Supporting Volunteers' Week 2016 - In the past ten years staff have raised over £1 million for charities and other good causes! - GCHQ

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  I NFORMAT I ON

Supporting Volunteers' Week 2016
In the past ten years staff have raised over £1 million for charities and other good
causes!

©Civil Service Local 2015

Our people support the community through schools as part of our outreach
programme, and by volunteering or fundraising.

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As part of National Volunteers' Week, we will be showcasing some of the
volunteering activities that staff get involved in.

GCHQ staf f sponsor a Guide Dog Puppy

                                                                      ©GCHQ 2016

GCHQ staff have supported the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association for many
years and in May 2015 three GCHQ employees, along with a team of helpers, set
out to raise £5,000 for a Guide Dog through the Name a Puppy Scheme, and had 2
years in which to do it.

Incredibly, that £5,000 was raised in just 7 months and the name Codey was
chosen for the GCHQ sponsored guide dog. Little did they know then, that in less
than 12 months they would exceed all expectations and raise a whopping £10,000!
This £10,000 will see Codey through her first 12 months with her Puppy Walker and a
further 12 months with her Guide Dog Trainer.

They were able to raise such large amounts due to the very generous nature of
GCHQ employees, who donated their time and money by making, buying and
eating cakes and crafts, attending the puppy rooms, testing their knowledge in
guide dog quizzes and a dedicated Team Ginty was created to raise sponsorship
for running Cheltenham Half Marathon – to name but a few.

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Read the blogs of two very special Guide Dogs, Danny and Ginty, who ‘work’ at
GCHQ. Through their devoted support to their GCHQ owners, they are playing their
part in helping keep the nation safe.

Danny

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©GCHQ 2016

Hello, it’s Danny here - I’m one of GCHQ’s newest recruits, having only joined in mid-
April this year, and this is my first blog. I’m a very exotic-looking blond labradoodle
guide dog, and I took over from Jay when he retired just before Easter. I’m doing
my best and trying very hard to please, but I’m naturally quite shy and it’ll take a bit
of time till I settle down and become more confident. I’ve only just turned 2 years
old and have just finished the long training programme which I started when I was
a pup, and I now have to put the theory into practice. I’ve had quite a lot of
changes in my short life so far and have had 3 or 4 temporary homes and owners,
so it’s a huge relief finally to be in my new long-term job and permanent home with
Mike.

In the first couple of weeks training with Mike, we learned some routes around
home. They started off being quite short and straightforward but, as time went
on, became longer and more complicated. The third week of training consisted of
doing routes in and around work and was completely different, but maybe even
more challenging - although the work environment is perfectly safe (for example,
there aren’t any cars parked or kids cycling on pavements or roads being dug up in
this building) - there are thousands of desks and people, dozens of identical
looking meeting and interview rooms, lots of informal breakout areas, seating and
plants, and I have to find my way around them all and know where I am (and I
mainly do!) . Fortunately, just yesterday, I met the other guide dog here, and she’s
promised to help me out if I get stuck. She’s really ancient – she must be getting
on for 5 years old! But she’s had a lot of experience and, although she’s very playful
and skittish, I’m sure that she’s a very wise old thing and will be a great mentor.

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Civil Service Local

©Civil Service Local 2015

GCHQ has supported Civil Service Local SW and Wales for many years and chairs
the cross-departmental volunteering group which meets on a quarterly basis. As
a group we have supported a number of volunteering initiatives over the years and
during the last operational year, CS Local supported/delivered: 97 volunteering
projects across the SW and Wales; 801 staff have participated, delivering 902
volunteering days and 890 L&D days; and 5900 citizens have been supported in
some way.

Nita Murphy, the Local Co-ordinator for CS Local said 'This is a fantastic
achievement which goes to prove just what can be achieved by harnessing the
voluntary power of the Civil Service.'

One initiative of note has been the development of employability workshops.
These were introduced by Richard Hill, who was seconded to CS Local from HMRC

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as SW and Wales Citizen Engagement Manager. The aim of the workshops was to
transfer the fantastic employability skills which civil servants have, to support
local communities. Richard developed links with schools, colleges and homeless
organisations across the region and offered them combinations of mock
interviews and employability workshops. GCHQ volunteers were pleased to
support workshops in Cheltenham and Tewkesbury.

In the words of one volunteer:

'I feel that participating in the workshop was a real confidence booster for all the
attendees. The clients engaged fully the whole afternoon and left saying they
would now consider a much wider range of jobs to apply for. They appreciated the
amount of one-2-one help that we were able to offer and seemed to especially
enjoy the role play exercises. We were all buzzing by the end of the workshop and it
was lovely to receive genuine thanks from the clients as they left'. (Sarah, GCHQ
volunteer).

Richard says: 'Sessions have gone down really well for all concerned - our partners
have better developed students and clients, whilst volunteers have developed their
own skills and have had the privilege of working collaboratively with colleagues
from different departments to give something back to their local communities. I've
seen volunteers develop and grow and witnessed the significant changes we have
made. Citizens have been successful in securing for jobs for the first time, self-
confidence has increased and lives genuinely changed. In the last year over 800
volunteer days have been delivered. Volunteers have worked closely with
colleagues from other departments and over 40 different government
departments and agencies have been involved. '

One small step f or GCHQ volunteers at Ruskin Mill College

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©GCHQ 2016

In early May a team from GCHQ spent a day volunteering at Ruskin Mill College
near Stroud which provides day and residential education and care in
Gloucestershire and the South West for young people with special educational
needs and disabilities.

This was the seventh year we had volunteered at the college and on this occasion
our day was spent at Gables Farm, a working farm which is part of the college and
which provides valuable learning opportunities for the students. The farm is also a
centre for horticulture, bio-dynamic farming and animal husbandry; it supplies the
college with organic produce and products, it has cattle, pigs, chickens and sheep
and two working cob horses used to plough the land.

We split into three groups for the various tasks. One group was put to work in the
wood, helping to re-lay a woodland path and built 'One small step for GCHQ!'
amidst a sea of wild garlic and the other groups had the task of clearing land and
planting. I think we all gained new skills in sawing and weed identification, and

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some members of the team acquired a number of new DIY skills too. We also
discovered the joys of the compost loos!

After all our hard work the field manager took us on a tour of the farm and it was
wonderful to see the dedication of the leaders and to meet some of the young
students who are benefitting from such a unique learning environment. Ruskin Mill
College is a truly inspirational place. For more information, please visit the Ruskin
Mill College website.

Volunteering at National Star

©GCHQ 2016

Following a previous visit to the GCHQ stand at the Cheltenham Science Festival ,
National Star recently invited a group of GCHQ volunteers to run some sessions for
their students using a selection of interactive 'sensory' activities. The games
included Ototo (musical fruit), PES (Proximity Entertainment System) and
SketchBot (drawing robot) (the latter two games were designed in-house).

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Feedback from the day was really positive and both the students and the
volunteers appeared to gain a great deal from the experience.

'All four of my guys [students] were really engaged by the Ototo device. It was great
for cause and effect ,and seemed to me to be much better than the similar device
Makey-Makey. The GCHQ people were very good with the students and that was
great, they were also very friendly and obviously pleased that we were so excited
about it.' (Tutor)

'I liked watching the game on the board, it was Connect Four.' (student).

'It's a fantastic college, the staff are great and really appreciated our time and
games we bought along. All the students were lovely, we got many smiles and
positive reactions from them. It was a pleasure to be there.' (GCHQ volunteer).

©GCHQ 2016

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We hope to continue building our relationship with National Star and a team of
GCHQ volunteers are planning to paint the College's glamping pods, when the
weather improves. Gloucestershire based charity National Star works with people
with complex disabilities to live their lives independently and to the full. For some,
that can mean going on to further education and possible employment. For
others, being at National Star may mean discovering how to communicate using
state-of-the-art technology, developing their skills for independent living or
learning how to get around by themselves.

For more information visit www.nationalstar.org.

New Start Cat Rescue
A day in t he life of a rescue cat

Hello, my name is Behind-the-Sofa Bobby. Yes, an odd name for a cat, but all will be
revealed! I was adopted 2 and a half years ago by a member of the GCHQ

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workforce from New Start Cat Rescue. I came to NSCR as a semi-feral. This meant,
at the age of 2, I had been living ‘rough’ but no-one knows how long for. I was quite
shy, very scared and I’m black. In the cat world that’s three strikes against me. For
some reason people don’t like us black cats! Luckily, the volunteers at New Start
took me and I was fostered. Then, I was taken to the centre, where I was selected
for adoption. Now I have a brother (Bear) and live with 2 cat-mad people, with a
lovely big garden for me to run round in. I protect my new owners from dangerous
leaves, earth worms and (too often) rats; for some reason the rats aren’t
appreciated.

Why Behind-the-Sofa Bobby? Well, that’s where I spent the first 2 months of my
time in my foster home. I was so scared; I’d been semi-feral you see. I was used to
doing my own thing, when I wanted and where I wanted. The concept of being in a
home and getting fed was new to me. Slowly, though, with love and patience, I
started to trust again. My fosterer spent lots of time socialising me, and fed me
lovely treats. Soon, I became a total lap cat, renowned for my Bobby Flop, where I
drop onto my back and demand belly rubs from anyone passing. My new
nickname is Bobby Long-Cat, because I love to stretch, to afford my owner as
much belly as possible to rub!

NSCR is a small, local, cat and kitten rescue. They rely on their volunteers and
supporters to fund the charity. I’m pleased to say that, following my adoption (and
that of my pen mate Bear), my new owner became a volunteer at the charity.

A day in t he life of a volunt eer

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Working at GCHQ, I’m granted 3 days a year to volunteer in the community. As
Bobby’s adopted owner, it’s natural I chose NSCR. There are so many ways of
volunteering at the charity. From getting hands-on and cleaning out the cat pens
(a daily job), to fostering cats and kittens (like Bobby was) and carrying out home
checks. There’s also PR and fundraising, and then there’s running our social media
campaigns, visiting local community groups (like Brownies hoping to get their
Friend to Animals badge) and running homing days at local halls and vets; the
opportunities are endless.

At GCHQ we have volunteers who do all the above. Fostering kittens (and their
Queens) needs care and patience, and a big heart. It’s so hard letting kittens go to
their new homes. Cleaning the pens is hard work, especially the ferals pen, where
we ‘home’ out ferals to become barn cats, keeping down vermin. It can often be
smelly but is one of the necessary jobs. Rehoming is done following a home check,
to make sure the new home is suitable for the cat or kitten, and this needs a good
level of patience when families are trying to decide between cats (sometimes
they take 2 or 3 from us).

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Fundraising, PR, media campaigns, are all time-consuming. Luckily at GCHQ, our
workforce’s love of cakes means we always raise funds from cake sales.

As an employer, GCHQ is very active in allowing us to carry on volunteering, even
allowing cats into the building last community day!

New Start Cat Rescue are always looking for volunteers, if you’d like to help please
get in touch.

PUBLISHED

3 June 2016

REVIEWED

25 January 2019

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