Welcoming businesses to our estates here in Aberdeen can be a hugely rewarding experience both for the local corporate teams and for our Camphill School Aberdeen community.

One company that has been actively supporting us this year is Subsea7. They have been an incredible help since October 2022, donating both their valuable time and funding.

Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance Initiatives

Subsea7 has completed a number of fundraising and volunteering activities over the last year. This includes donating £7,233 to help refurbish one of our greenhouses, raising more than £360 through an Easter egg raffle, helping us clean-up recent storm damage, giving our fences a fresh lick of paint, and helping sow grass seeds over areas of recent construction. Each of these activities helps to enhance the environment for our children and young people and improve the overall quality of their lives. Donations and financial support allow us to make life changing projects a reality, such as bringing life back to a previously unsafe greenhouse.

Group of volunteers from Subsea7 at Murtle Estate.

So far, around 50 of Subsea7’s staff, from across various departments in their Aberdeen office, have volunteered at one of our three estates in the west of Aberdeen.

For Subsea7, volunteering is something they encourage their employees to get involved in. It’s important to Subsea7 that they support the local communities where they operate through charitable events and business activities.

We also recently hosted a Murtle Market pop-up at Subsea7’s Aberdeen office. The pop-up stall highlighted some of the arts and crafts, made by the young people of Camphill School Aberdeen, that will be sold and displayed in Murtle Market when it opens in late summer 2024. The support of Subsea7 on the day allowed us to raise over £2000 with the help of a raffle they ran alongside our stall.

Our pop-up shop at Subsea7's Aberdeen office.

Catriona Newman, Senior Project Cost Controller at Subsea7, said: “Camphill School Aberdeen’s pop-up shop at our office was a roaring success. I was completely overwhelmed by the employee response and support. It was great for us all to get a glimpse of what will be stocked at Murtle Market when it opens.”

Thank you to Subsea7 for awarding the young people who were involved in creating the arts and crafts for the pop-up stall with certificates and cookies as part of their Being7 Stars initiative!

This Easter, they also donated 40 Easter eggs and smaller treats for our kitchen workshop and for the young people to find in an egg hunt!

A young person taking part in our Easter egg hunt.

Judith Anderson, UK & Global IRM Human Resources Director at Subsea7, said: “Subsea7 recognises the importance of supporting the local communities where we operate. It has been wonderful to see so many of our people support Camphill School Aberdeen and I am looking forward to us working with Camphill School Aberdeen on more volunteering and fundraising initiatives this year.”

Opening our doors

Charlotte Henderson, Fundraising Executive at Camphill School Aberdeen, added: “The support from businesses such as Subsea7 is appreciated by everyone at Camphill School Aberdeen. We pride ourselves on the sense of belonging and community we have created, so building strong relationships with our corporate partners is of utmost importance to us.

“As we head towards 2024, we hope to open our doors to more people in the local community with the launch of Murtle Market – our sustainable social enterprise charity. Murtle Market is our first public-facing venture, allowing locals to better engage with our young people and understand the amazing work we do. By selling arts and crafts made by our children and young people, and produce which has been grown in our walled gardens, we increase the meaningfulness of our workshops.”

Giving back

When asked what they found most rewarding about engaging with Camphill School Aberdeen, Claire Loggie, HSE Advisor at Subsea7, said: “Visiting the grounds for the first time and learning about the support the young people and their families receive from Camphill School Aberdeen was very rewarding. I didn’t know a lot about the work the charity does before visiting, so getting to see and learn about it in person has been an amazing experience.”

Claire Loggie, Ben Mair and Catriona Newman at our breaking ground event in September.

 

Working closely with local businesses is a fantastic way for people to see the work we do first-hand and raise awareness of the charity. Our children and young people are at the centre of everything we do so we always ensure that our corporate volunteers are taking part in activities that reflect that. For example, clearing our paths after the storm helped make it easier for our young people with complex additional support needs to move around the estate. Furthermore, the exchange of skills is a valuable part of corporate volunteering for us as a charity. Subsea7 is just as passionate about sustainability as we are, so as we look to develop our use of renewable power, they have offered to share the knowledge they have in this area.

Looking ahead

Looking to the future, Subsea7 and Camphill School Aberdeen have a lot of activities in the pipeline. From donating old bikes to be repaired at the bike workshop and continuing to take part in volunteering days, we look forward to building our relationship with them.

If you and your organisation are interested in supporting us or learning more about our volunteering opportunities, please contact fundraising@crss.org.uk.