NFU Mutual Doing Their Bit at The Garden of Arden
At the beginning of October, 33 employees from NFU Mutual joined us for a volunteering day at The Garden of Arden, our five-acre site just outside Stratford-upon-Avon. The group were in town for a national conference and chose to spend part of their visit supporting our environmental and wellbeing work.
As part of NFU Mutual’s ‘Doing Our Bit’ initiative they swapped office life for the great outdoors to complete tasks that made a real impact on the site. Activities included:
Sanding and painting outdoor furniture including benches, chairs, and tables that we’d sourced from skips and online marketplaces to upcycle. This gave new life to discarded items and created more inviting seating for visitors.
Creating a rustic seating area using logs and bark chippings to house picnic benches, adding a welcoming space for people to relax and enjoy the surroundings.
Weeding garden beds, borders, and patio areas across the site, helping to improve plant health and keep the space looking tidy and well cared for.
Painting and applying wood preservative to our newly built wooden gazebos, protecting them from the elements and ensuring they’ll last for years of community use.
Building raised beds ready to be planted with Elaeagnus trees and pollinator friendly plants, expanding our growing areas and supporting future biodiversity and wellbeing projects.
The team worked hard throughout the day and helped us make significant progress in enhancing and maintaining the space for community and corporate use.
Teas, coffees, and a steady supply of biscuits kept everyone fuelled throughout the morning, while freshly cooked stonebaked pizzas at lunchtime gave the team a well-earned boost to power through the rest of the day.
We’d like to thank NFU Mutual for their time, energy, and support. Their contribution has helped us move forward with our mission to promote sustainability, biodiversity, and wellbeing through nature-based projects.
A word from the organisers…
“By volunteering with organisations, such as Forest of Hearts, NFU Mutual employees are helping to make a positive contribution to environmental projects and supporting local communities. It’s a great way to get out together as a team to learn new skills and be surrounded by nature”
- Aimee Evans, Community Engagement Co-ordinator
"It was truly rewarding to see the enthusiasm and dedication from everyone involved. A special thank you to Carole and the team at the Forest of Hearts for making the day highly productive and enjoyable for all participants. We all felt like we had made a difference.”
- Rob Woodward, Head of Claims Inspectors