At John Rowan and Partners, we place a strong emphasis on our role in the community. To make sure we practice what we preach, we actively support employees who wish to take time away from work to undertake activities in their local community.

An allowance of a days’ paid leave is allocated to all our staff per year and can used during their normal working hours.  We know that volunteering brings a multitude of positive benefits both internally and externally and we love the opportunities volunteering brings for our people.

Helping Shelter at Christmas

Most recently, Darren Chapman, one of our Senior Quantity Surveyors, used his allowance to spend the day volunteering for Shelter. Darren, spent the day helping at his local Shelter retail shop sorting through donations, serving customers, creating fantastic window displays.

This can be tremendously satisfying as well as an opportunity for our staff to develop their skills and connect with colleagues in a different environment. It also strengthens our relationships with our local communities, existing charity partners as well as existing and potential clients.

Caroline, Crystal Palace Branch Manager said “Shelter’s shops raise vital funds for our fight against homelessness and bad housing – and we are powered by volunteers. Without people like Darren, we would be unable raise the money needed to help people across Britain that struggle on a daily basis with homelessness, bad housing conditions, soaring rents, discrimination and the threat of eviction.  We are extremely grateful to Darren and his employers for his time.”

Darren added “I chose to use my volunteer allowance to do something completely different to my day job.  Shelter is a charity whose ethos strongly resonates with me as I feel a home is a fundamental human right. I enjoyed my day, the variety of tasks and meeting the different people that come into the shop. This is definitely something I will do again.”

More than 274,000 people are homeless in England right now, including 126,000 children, according to research published by Shelter in December. Shelter exists to defend the right to a safe home and fight the devastating impact the housing emergency has on people and society. Shelter believes that home is everything.