Oakham employees have been heading out into the community to volunteer with local charities.

As part of its charity initiative for 2023, employees of Sentura Group based on Lands' End Way in Oakham have each been given a day of paid leave to volunteer for a local charity of their choice.

So far, Finance Assistant Paula Diep has joined a group of volunteers working on improving the footpath on Oakham canal and two members of the Marketing team, Sarah Need and Alison Tully, spent a day raising money and awareness for local mental health charity, Pepper's- A Safe Place.

The Oakham Canal Green Corridor Project aims to create a heritage, environment and leisure facility based around the former Oakham Canal. It works with landowners, tenant farmers and the local community to improve footpaths and public access while developing habitats and diversity.

Activities vary from ongoing maintenance and trimming to working on major projects such as re-laying paths and building bridges.

The Oakham Canal Project team have vastly improved the Oakham - Langham walkways. Image credit: Nub News.

Paula really enjoyed her time working at the canal and is already planning to join in at more volunteer sessions!

Meanwhile, Pepper's – A Safe Place is based in Oakham and offers community mental health support across Rutland. The organisation has multiple drop-in sessions each week where people can chat over a cup of tea or coffee or join in with other activities such as cookery and art classes, tai chi, music making, first-aid training and film nights.

Find out more about their upcoming June events here.

Pepper's supporting Oakham pride in their window display competition. Image credit: Nub News.

During Mental Health Awareness week, which ran from 15 to 21 May, Alison and Sarah spent their volunteer day selling homemade cakes, bric-a-brac and raffle tickets on Pepper's stall in Oakham market, which helped raise a total of £200, as well as walking several miles distributing information and leaflets about the charity to community outlets all over the town.

They were so impressed with the work of the charity that they have both volunteered to help Pepper's with their marketing and events in their own time

Laurie Pollard, Sentura Group's Managing Director said: 'This year we wanted to give all team members the opportunity to volunteer and support a local charity of their choice. Being able to give everyone a day of paid leave to do that is our way of giving back to the community'.

Sentura Group Ltd is a third generation family business and a long standing supplier to the fire safety market. The company employs 19 local people and holds the Investors in People Gold award in recognition of its commitment to the training and development of its employees.

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