Alfa’s Bean Counters on the Farm
Do Accountants (aka “Bean Counters”) make good farmers? Probably not, but they do make good helpers – as was the case on Tuesday 21 September, when the UK Finance Team took part in a volunteering afternoon at Spitalfields City Farm.
A short walk from Alfa’s London office, the farm is a charity providing a space for locals, especially children living in urban areas, to experience animals, gardening, and the journey of food from farm to plate – there is even a farm shop and a café on site. They have a very small team of staff, supplemented by volunteers. They lean on corporate teams, like ours, to help with various tasks (their current list of tasks runs to about 150 items, so there is no shortage of things to do!).
After a brief tour, and the obligatory “health and safety” chat, we were put to work. Our list of tasks included mucking on the goat pen (and feeding treats to the goats!), weeding, pruning, shifting dirt and stones to make way for new seedlings to be planted.
The biggest task of the day was a heroic attempt to dismantle an old pond constructed from very stubborn concrete and equally stubborn wooden planks!) – the final score on that, despite bringing on as a reserve “the Sledgehammer” was Pond 2 : Alfa Finance Team 1.
We ended the day by helping move all the livestock to their overnight pens. Everyone enjoyed themselves – some even learning new skills, like using a wheelbarrow, a sledgehammer, and an electric screwdriver!
It was a great team-building experience, whilst providing practical support for a great charity and using some of the Alfa Volunteering Allowance (three days every year!) – the whole event was fantastic and gets a big tick from the Alfa Finance Team!