In February the London and South Coast Readymix Commercial team took part in the first Lend A Hand Day of 2025 at Thorpe Church of England Primary School in Thorpe Village, on the outskirts of South West London.

Courtney Banham, Readymix Commercial Manager, whose daughter attends the Primary School, told us all about it…

“We’ve been planning this since August 2024, so finally completing it was a fantastic achievement! During the school’s half term Jeff Fielding, Steve Deasley, Hitesh Patel, Erin Volpi, Joanna Devlin and I came together to tackle several outdoor tasks the school had requested.

The school had been quoted over £300 to remove the old wooden climbing frame, so they were absolutely thrilled when Jeff, Steve and Hitesh worked tirelessly to saw, dig and remove it from the ground. Brave Joanna faced the daunting task of clearing out the school’s garden shed which had more spiders than toys, while Erin safely removed the dangerous brambles growing at children’s height around the playground.

With a beautiful sunny day, we completed the new mud kitchen and pizza area for the Reception to Year 1 children (ages 4-6), complete with toppings! We also set up a new “grow your own” area where the children will learn to grow their own vegetables.

I can’t thank the team enough for their time and effort. They’ve made such a positive difference to the school’s environment. It’s been the talk of the class WhatsApp groups, with parents and teachers praising Cemex’s ethos. I’m so proud to work for a company that promotes giving back to our communities.

The children will love the changes and it’s safe to say the parents will too, now that the spiky brambles that kept ripping expensive uniforms are gone!”

How to organise your Lend a Hand this year

To support you and your team in finding local opportunities for Lend a Hand activities, Cemex UK has partnered with Neighbourly, a volunteering platform to support you to deliver social impact. Once registered, the new online platform will assist you in searching for volunteering activities in your local areas.

Click this link HERE to open Neighbourly. You can find instructions to register with Neighbourly HERE

If you need any further support using Neighbourly or organising your Lend a Hand activity this year, please contact Chiedza Mupfumira, Cemex UK Social Impact Specialist.