Corporate Volunteering

A very big thank you to the team of new Green Champions from Bradford Teaching Hospitals who volunteered in the Urban Nature Reserve to kick off their new environmental sustainability project. Trees and shrubs in this wonderful wildlife habitat have recently been severely cut back so our plan is to return it to a state that benefits our native plants, animals and insects; the local nursery pupils will love to encounter them.

The team worked hard to remove unwanted plants, clear the meadow and woodland areas and and help us to create pockets we can plant more native and beneficial plants to provide an improve and more diverse wildlife habitat. Some brave volunteers put on gaiters and got stuck in clearing weeds and debris from the wildlife pond and cleared pockets where we can introduce suitable bog plants! Very much appreciated.

NG Bailey’s people team sent a group of wonderful corporate volunteers to collect apples and maintain our organic orchard.

We are very grateful to the team of volunteers from NG Bailey who joined our regular conservation volunteers at the community orchard to collect fallen apples, sort them, clear vegetation from under trees using traditional sickles, compost waste and protect our comfrey plants.

The group had the opportunity to picnic in the sunshine among the trees, sample some fresh, organic apple juice, taste pears and have a go at picking apples from the highest branches using the fruit picker.

With a bigger group, we have been able to continue preparing the orchard for the winter months and to make it look wonderful for the Apple Day celebration at the orchard on Sunday 12th October (12 – 4 within Bowling Community Orchard). Come and enjoy the appely fun for all ages!

A small team from Aviva joined us in September and October 2025 to help us prepare for the 25th anniversary celebration of our community orchard in BD4.  Apple Day is a wonderful community event for all ages among our organic apple and pear trees and soft fruit bushes.  As an extra special celebration, we had music, crafting, apple tasting, pressing fresh apple juice, stalls and children’s activities.

Aviva staff members Katie and Martin did a sterling job of helping BEES to remove some rotted seating and replace them with sturdy natural wooden benches.

With their time, support, advice and physical graft we have been able to make great progress along with our wonderful regular volunteers. We are conscious to use natural materials and sustainable methods where possible.

They’re going to look amazing for Apple Day and provide lots of seating for our wellbeing and school groups as well as for our fabulous regular volunteers for many years to come.

Aviva volunteers

A large team from Hallmark Cards joined us in the community orchard we manage to undertake a number of seasonal management tasks such as coppicing hedging to use to make natural fencing panels, cutting back overgrown paths, weeding under fruit trees and adding material to our composting heaps.  It was a lovely warm day and the feedback was very positive.  The group left with a greater understanding of fruit production, positivity and community spirit.

Liberty Global joined our team to undertake a summer task of cutting back bracken on Baildon Moor above Bradford.  This was done using traditional tools such as scythes, sickles and wooden hay rakes.  Doing this allows native plant species such as heathers and bilberries to grow and flourish by removing the competition of the bracken.  Increasing the biodiversity of the moor improves the habitats of moorland plants and animals.

Balfour Beatty have undertaken some of the recent structural changes around Bradford city centre playing a key role in transforming the city of Bradford by making it easier for people to walk, cycle and use public transport.

They chose Bradford BEES (Bradford Environmental Education Service) to partner with to give back to the local community via their corporate volunteering activity.

“The teams cleared away old storage units and unsightly waste, plastics and rotten wood then, built new storage units and protected them with waterproofing.  The units made would be used to store materials for fencing, tree planting and propagation of plants for environmental projects.  We also made mini beast hotels from recycled wood and logs and additional much needed leaf bins.

Not only was it great for teambuilding and a sense of achievement and wellbeing but, also having made a positive impact at Stoney Ridge as the quote from Shona stated “We so appreciated your help on both these days to get a job done that would have taken us years.”

One of the volunteers described their day with Bradford BEES; “We had a great day at Stoney Ridge woodlands, helping to tidy up and organise the woodlands which were in need of a bit of TLC. It was a great day of team building, and it was fun to learn some new tricks of the trade given that I am usually sat in the office – and we chose a beautiful day to volunteer as the sun was shining all day. It was all in all a very rewarding and insightful day!