Volunteers’ Week 2023 is taking place 1-7 June, and we’d like to take a moment to celebrate our staff and students at the University of Edinburgh who dedicate their time to volunteering to support their local communities. Image Volunteer at the Big Dig The Big Dig: April 2023 A recent example is a group of staff and students who took part in the Big Dig at Easter Bush. Despite the damp weather, the group managed to plant 270 trees in just over an hour. The annual Big Dig is a joint effort between Sport & Exercise and Estates, and in conjunction with the Woodland Trust. Now in its third year the Big Dig is a great way to support the environment, connect with others and keep active. This year the programme reached the milestone of 2,000 trees now planted on the Easter Bush campus. Amanda Marshall, Active Lives Coordinator with Sport & Exercise led the event and said: I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to all those who took time out of their busy schedules to help make this event another successful one. The energy, enthusiasm, love for nature and the connection with every group was so overwhelming. Over 3 days and 8 hours, 4 groups totalling 100 staff and students planted 720 trees. Alone I took 62,000 steps and together we successfully planted 14 different tree types including, crab-apple, cherry, hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel, silver birch and dogwood. As part of the Big Dig, Edinburgh Innovations planted 105 trees to celebrate the 105 student startup companies formed in the last year. Find out how to get involved with Volunteers’ Week on their website or check out our Volunteering webpages. Volunteers’ Week Get involved with volunteering Staff and students can keep an eye on the University's events page to join future Big Dig events Events for staff and students Have you used your Day to Make a Difference? Staff at the University of Edinburgh are entitled to one day’s paid leave per year for volunteering activities. There’s still six months left to use your Day to Make a Difference and record it on People and Money for this year. Use our checklist to use your volunteering day. How to volunteer: a handy checklist Win a voucher Maximise your volunteering by telling us and telling others! Share your volunteering story with us and be in a chance to win a £50 Love2Shop voucher. Email local@ed.ac.uk with 100 words about your volunteering experience and photo and you’ll be automatically entered into the competition. Why not call on others to use their day and add this to your email signature: “I’ve used my Day to Make a Difference in 2023! Have you?” (Please note this competition is for staff at the University of Edinburgh only. Competition ends 30 June 2023.) More information Day to Make a Difference Special Leave Policy This article was published on 2024-07-22
