Volunteering
We believe the best way we can make a real difference to Yorkshire communities is through employee volunteering.
Our most ambitious volunteering initiative is
One Million Green Fingers - through which we create gardens in Yorkshire schools to teach pupils about sustainability, the environment, healthy eating, where food comes from, climate change, water conservation and citizenship.
But we do much more than digging and planting - we've got a big, diverse workforce with lots of different skills, which we're keen to share
Enhancing learning
We encourage pupils to fulfil their potential through Right to Read. Our volunteers spend an hour a week in a primary school helping a child improve their reading skills. It's an initiative which has won us many awards over the years. Our volunteers also encourage children to improve their confidence in maths with the use of fun games and puzzles through Number Partners.
Science and engineering is vital to our business so we encourage pupils to continue studying these subjects to A-level and beyond. Through the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department for Education and Skills Initiative, our volunteers aim to enthuse pupils by showing them the links between what they learn at school and the world of work.
School governors
Many of our people volunteer as school governors in their local community. We aim to recruit more volunteers to offer advice to schools and help them to manage their budgets and tackle other challenges using business skills. We bring together our school governors to share ideas and best practice.
Giving presentations
Our volunteers develop their presentation skills by giving talks to community groups about all things Yorkshire Water -
learn more
Mentoring
Our people have many essential business skills to share so they act as mentors to community organisations.They give guidance on all sorts of issues from marketing to finance. We've just started working with Business Action on Homelessness and will be providing mentors to help with job coaching.
Case study - a helping hand for Daisy Bank - IT's fun
Daisy Bank is a Bradford-based cancer support centre making a difference to the lives of patients, their families and carers by offering a range of support including holistic therapies, art, pottery and Information Technology.
Jamie Wilson and Amanda Farren ran an I.T. for Fun course at Daisy Bank. They taught essential computer skills to cancer patients and family members from ages 20- 85. Topics ranged from hardware, software, emails, internet auctions, e-bay purchasing, MP3's, scanning, cameras and creating websites. The courses were a big success and another 14 of our volunteers have now delivered more training.
Funny fundraising for Daisy Bank 
The Legal Team, led by Ruth and Deborah, has organised a range of fund-raising events.
Its first venture was the publication of Yorkshire Water's first Joke Book and colleagues from across the company were asked to provide their jokes and limericks.The Legal Services team then turned into a publishing factory as the book went into production and sales continued for 6 months, reaching a fantastic £1300!
