Taylor Wimpey director has volunteered at an Amersham care home as employees for the company will volunteer at Abbeyfield homes.

The Abbeyfield Society, a charity operating over 400 residential homes for older people nationwide, has started a new partnership with residential development firm Taylor Wimpey, which will see Taylor Wimpey employees volunteering their time in Abbeyfield homes during the coronavirus pandemic.

Taylor Wimpey Director Charles Waggett, leading by example, was the first to volunteer at Abbeyfield Pratt House, a dementia-friendly care home in Amersham.

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Charles, along with his son Sam, got to work in the garden, mowing the lawn, cleaning the paving slabs and making sure that it was ready for the home’s summer events and celebrations.

Charles said: “It was a pleasure for Sam and I to give a hand sorting out the garden at Pratt House.

"While we weren’t able to interact personally with the residents, we saw many smiling faces at the windows, so hopefully this cheered everyone up in some way.”

Taylor Wimpey has undertaken a variety of community-focused initiatives in order to help the NHS and other care homes during the pandemic.

As Charles explained: “As well as raising and contributing money directly, our employees have volunteered their time making and delivering vital PPE. To date, we have procured and delivered 120,000 face masks, 75,000 pairs of gloves and 120,000 aprons to care homes, and manufactured and delivered over 800 reusable face shields.

"Our employees have also been volunteering their time as NHS responders and delivering medical and food supplies.

"With St Mungo’s, we have helped to deliver 3,000 food boxes and help set up a distribution hub, and have donated laptops to seven hospices through CRASH.”

Abbeyfield’s Interim Director of Fundraising, Marketing and Volunteering, Alastair Mulvie, said: “In this difficult time it is more challenging for us and our residents to engage with the wider community in the ways that we normally try to encourage, and to sustain our incredibly important local relationships.

"We hope that the employee volunteering partnerships we are forging will help to strengthen our connections with businesses in each home’s neighbourhood, both now and in the future.

"I am grateful to Taylor Wimpey for helping us to pioneer this project and I am looking forward to seeing the long-term benefits it will bring across the country.”

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The Abbeyfield Society is keen to involve more Taylor Wimpey employees in their work, and further volunteering opportunities are in the process of being created at Abbeyfield homes in the Bristol and Solihull areas.

Abbeyfield is also on the lookout for other companies and organisations to volunteer and has many rewarding opportunities available.

Contact volunteering@abbeyfield.com for more information.