Jet-washing patios, planting an abundance of plants and dishing up slices of cake, were jobs on the menu for over 60 Futures colleagues, as they swapped their usual day jobs for community projects.

The five projects were spread across Derbyshire and Northamptonshire in a jam-packed week dedicated to giving back to local communities. Customers and their neighbours popped along for a chat, free hot drinks and sweet treats in our 'cuppa and cake' mornings at Moulton, Kilsby, Daventry, Heage and Heanor, as well as seeing the transformation of gardens at the local community centres in the latter two locations.

'Futures in the Community' first started as a single day in December 2022, where all our employees left their desks behind to help give back to the neighbourhoods where our customers are. This time around volunteers from teams all over the business, including customer services, ICT, assets and finance swapped their usual jobs of crunching numbers and taking phone calls, to cleaning furniture and tending to plants.

We’d like to say a special thank you to Travis Perkins in Ripley, for kindly donating various items to help with the different projects, including a new storage unit for the garden of Park Crescent community centre in Heage. 

Kate Curley, National Social Housing Account Manager at Travis Perkins said: “Working together with our customers to improve the local communities and provide sustainable improvements to the area is an invaluable part of my job. It's a pleasure to be part of these important community projects that bring so much more than just a physical change to the area.

“I hope the residents enjoy the improved green space that me, Travis Perkins Ripley and Futures have worked together to create.”

Sophie Harding, Community Engagement Project Delivery Officer at Futures said: "It really was a brilliant week. It took a lot of planning and support from multiple teams to figure out what we could do to make a difference to our customers and communities, but the feedback we've had so far has been great.

"Colleagues were building planters, jet-washing, cleaning, digging and planting to create gardens for the community to look after, and just as importantly, chatting to customers in person. I’d like to thank all colleagues, customers, Travis Perkins and partners for giving up their time to make the week such a success.”

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Group picture of colleagues, customers and partners
Colleagues with new storage unit outside
Colleagues jet-washing a patio
Group of customers sitting in a row of chairs
Wooden bench with a throw, cushions and decoration outside
Customer and colleague sat down at a table talking
Photo of group of colleagues and customers sat around a table
Photo of three colleagues digging into the ground
Photo of raised planter flower bed
Colleague holding several plants in hand while walking outside
Customers and colleagues sat around tables inside a community centre
Colleague pushing an empty wheelbarrow outside
Three colleagues planting flowers in raised flower bed
Photo of lots of plants in a row outside
Group picture of colleagues, customers and partners Colleagues with new storage unit outside Colleagues jet-washing a patio Group of customers sitting in a row of chairs Wooden bench with a throw, cushions and decoration outside Customer and colleague sat down at a table talking Photo of group of colleagues and customers sat around a table Photo of three colleagues digging into the ground Photo of raised planter flower bed Colleague holding several plants in hand while walking outside Customers and colleagues sat around tables inside a community centre Colleague pushing an empty wheelbarrow outside Three colleagues planting flowers in raised flower bed Photo of lots of plants in a row outside