Forty Lloyd’s employees, including Lloyd's Chief Executive Richard Ward, swapped their pin-stripes for paintbrushes recently and helped to do up a park in East London.
They took on the challenge of painting 900 railings and renovating an old bowling pavilion at King Edward Memorial Park in Shadwell.
The charity challenge - one of many organised for staff from Lloyd's and market firms through Lloyd's Community Programme - gave staff the chance to work together on a valuable project benefiting the local community.
The Edwardian park is managed by the charity Trees for Cities in partnership with the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Over the three-year partnership, the charity has worked with the community, including residents and neighbouring companies, to renovate and improve the park for the young and old in East London.
Trees for Cities set Lloyd's the challenge of sanding down and painting Edwardian rusty railings at the park, and clearing out and painting the bowling pavilion, previously damaged by vandals. The charity has entered the park for a Green Flag award – a national standard for parks and green spaces in England and Wales - and hopes the additional work from Lloyd’s will help to get it.
Ben Ruscombe-King, Landscape Operations Manager at Trees for Cities said: “If it was not for the involvement of companies like Lloyd’s, we would just not be able to turn what was once a neglected park into something for the local community which they can enjoy.”
Kiran Bhovan, Marketing Executive at Lloyd's, said: “It was a fantastic achievement by everyone involved and it was great to work on a fun project with everyone.”
For more information on Lloyd's Community Programme and the team challenge opportunities open to companies in the Lloyd's market, contact Natalie Tickle on +44 (0)20 7327 6144.
Lloyd's Community Programme is a charity which mobilises the time, skills and resources of individuals and companies that work in the Lloyd's market. It aims to improve the opportunities and environment of people living in East London. The award winning Lloyd's Community Programme is administered by the Community Affairs team at Lloyd's who run a range of volunteer programmes including reading support programmes for young people, business mentoring for community leaders and team challenges.
