The Paddington Partnership: Creating meaningful impact in our community

St John's Hospice is very grateful to be supported by a huge range of organisations, from community groups and schools to larger corporations and trusts. One organisation that finds a way to bring a variety of these groups together to support their local community is The Paddington Partnership.

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The Paddington Partnership works with local partners, stakeholders, and companies to ensure the area meets the needs of local businesses, its visitors, and the local community. Their Community Programme serves to bring together these groups by facilitating impactful volunteering activities, aiming to tackle the disconnect between those who work in the area and the reality of those who live, access the support of charities, or attend school in the local community. Last year, they created volunteering opportunities for 1,500 employees from 39 companies through the programme. Between them, they contributed more than 5,000 hours of their time to nearby charities, schools, and community groups.

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Our relationship with The Paddington Partnership first began in 2017, when a team of volunteer Christmas elves from Marks & Spencer helped wrap gifts for our children's grotto at the Christmas fayre. Over the years, they have connected us with employees from locally based businesses, including Visa and Vodafone, who have helped to transform our hospice by giving our therapy rooms a fresh coat of paint, have run creative workshops and arts and crafts sessions for patients and have even volunteered their time keeping our garden looking beautiful.

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This spring, British Land employees volunteered their time leading a workshop at our Day Care Unit, teaching patients and staff how to create colourful paper flower bouquets. Creative activities such as this are a fantastic opportunity for our patients to try something new, express their creativity and individuality, and practice motor skills and hand-eye coordination. They also offer a level of companionship to our patients who will always be busy chatting away to the visiting corporate volunteers throughout the sessions.

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Jessica, Community Programme Manager for The Paddington Partnership, said: "The atmosphere during these volunteering activities is always wonderful, with volunteers chatting away to patients, sharing creative new skills and offering some companionship during a very difficult time. We love working with St John's Hospice as the staff always offer such a warm and heartfelt welcome to our volunteers, ensuring they are fully supported throughout their activity. St John's is always open to hearing new ideas for how we can work together to offer meaningful activities to our corporate volunteers, whilst ensuring that the events we run are always useful and beneficial to the wellbeing of patients."

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If you're interested in partnering with St John’s and would like to know more about potential corporate volunteering opportunities, please email our team at fundraising@hje.org.uk or call us on 020 7806 4011.