Teambuilding for social impact - survival island
Last month, eight colleagues from silver partners Brooks Macdonald embarked on an intrepid adventure to raise money for the Trust; two nights on a remote island learning to catch food, light fires and work as a team if they were to thrive.
Our programmes, which the Brooks Macdonald partnership is providing vital support for, improve young people’s physical and mental wellbeing, help them build healthy relationships and unlock the confidence, self-esteem and resilience needed to overcome challenge and succeed in education, work and life. For our ‘Islanders’ the setting might have been different, but the skills needed were the same.
With employee wellbeing featuring highly on many organisations’ agendas, this trip gave the participants an opportunity to bond and work shoulder to shoulder with colleagues, many of whom do not work in the same building or office. As one of a number of fundraising challenges completed by the Brooks Macdonald team, it also connected internal teambuilding with community engagement and social impact. Upon his return from the island, Gareth said:
“Alongside learning how to make a fire, catch fish and then gut them, I learned more about team building, it was at the centre of everything we did on the Island. Understanding how to think about a task and tackle without rushing in was something else I took away from the experience. The leaders on the trip were really inspirational and my biggest takeaway was to try and live every day to its fullest.”
Research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development shows that employees who are engaged are often healthier, happier, more fulfilled or more motivated. Taking employees out of the office and out of their comfort zones to learn new skills in an unfamiliar environment alongside colleagues can bring about that sense of togetherness that can be hard to achieve, particularly as hybrid working becomes the norm. The adventurers on Survival Island learned a whole range of transferable skills from the experienced group leader, ex Royal Commando John that they are taking back into the workplace. Paige commented:
“My biggest takeaway was that when you in a survival situation your normal standards completely drop, your only priorities are warmth, water and food. A difficult task can always be stripped back and broken down into manageable chunks. When trying to make fire in the rain which I thought was near impossible we always seemed to find a way to make it work, there was no option to give up as the problem wasn’t going to fix itself. That’s certainly something I’ll be taking back with me to the office from the island.”
Tom Emery – Chief People Officer at Brooks Macdonald said:
“The survival islanders had a great time learning new skills and bonding with each other in the wind and rain – they’ve brought stories of their experiences back with them and are inspiring their colleagues to take on their own new challenges! Both the Sports Day and Survival Island adventure brought our colleagues closer together and helped to build connections across teams. I’d definitely recommend other organisations think about activities such as these if they are looking to increase employee engagement.”
Partnering with the Trust enables your organisation to deliver powerful social impact with young people and the communities that need us most. We add value to our partners by bringing our world-class athletes together with your workforce to unlock their potential and wellbeing.
Be the Champion in their Corner. For more information contact fundraising@damekellyholmestrust.org
“If someone was to ask me if they should take part in something similar, I would 100% say yes. The experiences you gain from such an event make you feel grounded & appreciate the things you take for granted day in day out.”