Taranto’s Leadership Team takes a day out to help YKids Charity

Papering a wall makes a change from taking strategic business decisions for Taranto’s Leadership Team, who recently abandoned their laptops, taking up paintbrushes and wallpaper. They spent the day volunteering with YKids, a Merseyside children’s charity, helping to declutter and refresh the workspace at its Liverpool bookshop.

The brief was simple but the work was truly hands-on: Clearing out and replacing old stock and equipment, reorganising furniture and putting up new wallpaper. By the end of the day, staff and volunteers had a calmer, more welcoming break-out space.

Everyone at Taranto has two paid days a year for volunteering with a charity of their choice. It’s always more than a day out of work and each individual comes away from their volunteering experience with new appreciations, but everyone learns something new. The management team learned several things:

• Different problems sharpen different instincts. Reorganising a shelf or hanging wallpaper straight is a different kind of decision-making to running a strategy session, and it’s a useful reminder that not every problem involves a spreadsheet or business analytics.
• Small, tangible outcomes are motivating. A clean, tidy, wallpapered room achieved in a single day gives a different kind of satisfaction. It’s a helpful contrast for anyone used to measuring success in quarters rather than afternoons.
• Time is often worth more than a donation. Charities like YKids need funding, but they also need people willing to turn up and do the unglamorous work. Giving a day is a different, and sometimes more valuable, kind of support.

Thank you to the team at YKids for having us – and for the work they do every day supporting children and families across Merseyside.