The UK’s community bank, Metro Bank, gives every colleague a Day to Amaze – essentially a paid day off to support a local charity or good cause. Colleagues from Metro Bank’s product team recently took a grave departure from their usual work, trading spreadsheets for spades to volunteer at Cemetery Park Lodge to help maintain this historic cemetery at the heart of its local community.
The Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park is an independent charity that looks after Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, a unique and vital nature reserve and heritage site in East London. This woodland cemetery is a place for remembrance, a sanctuary for humans as well as nature, a place for volunteering, field studies and summer fairs. With their sleeves rolled up, the colleagues tackled overgrown brambles and cleared ivy from around the monuments. Their mission? To help preserve the cemetery’s rich history while ensuring the heritage trails remain trailblazing for visitors.
Branching out from their usual roles, the team unearthed a wealth of knowledge about nature conservation techniques. As they worked to maintain the site, the team learned not only about the conservation methods, but also about the lives of those who rest beneath the stones they were uncovering.
“This wasn’t just any day, it was a groundbreaking experience in more ways than one,” said Metro Bank’s Director of Bank Account, Payments and Deposits, Ian Jackson. “It was amazing to see how much history we could unearth – literally – and the important role conservation plays in keeping these stories alive.”