Historic garden at MHA Hall Grange gets some TLC following team volunteering day

Staff from the Project and Structured Export Finance team at Standard Chartered Bank decided to pick The Wilderness, a seven-acre historic garden situated within MHA Hall Grange as their location for their volunteering initiative.

They spent time filling the tree watering bags, designed to allow slow release watering of newly planted trees as well as raking hay into haystacks.

Steve Thompson, commissioning and partnerships manager for MHA which owns The Wilderness said: “I was made aware of the contact made by the team at Standard Chartered by one of our staff members and was more than happy for them to use The Wilderness.

“As part of the day I suggested team building exercises which were set up to make the team work together but not in their usual settings.

“By giving the team opportunities to work together in situations they are not usually accustomed to, it allows them to be themselves and not be afraid to share their ideas

“The day was mutually beneficial to both the staff from Standard Chartered and The Wilderness.

“Being outdoors and surrounded by greenery is really good for our wellbeing and at the same time the plants and trees in The Wilderness were given the attention they deserve. 

“It was a very successful day and we would definitely be keen to host future opportunities like this.”

Sujithav Sarangi, Executive Director, Standard Chartered Bank, said: “We felt very proud to support the MHA with the important charity work it does to care for older people in the UK. 

“Not only was it fulfilling to see the difference we made to the MHA Wilderness garden, it was also enjoyable spending time volunteering together and team bonding to get the job done.”