While the school gates are closed to pupils for the summer holidays, a local primary school recently opened its doors to London Marriott Hotel Park Lane volunteers to support a range of End of Term tasks.

Marriott Park Lane volunteers at Essendine Primary School.

Eight employee volunteers attended Essendine Primary School, located in North Paddington. It occupies a large, striking Victorian building, however, upkeep of its facilities is a huge undertaking.

On arrival, the Marriott Park Lane team received a presentation from Essendine Primary’s Head of School, thanking them for their time and where they learned about the challenges facing the school. Like most primary schools in Westminster, it is experiencing falling pupil numbers which has significant impacts on funding available, and the ability to maintain and care for a large site.

Teamwork was required during the first task of helping set-up a new staff room area for teachers.

London Marriott Hotel Park Lane volunteers assembling furniture for the primary school’s new staff room.

Volunteers worked together to disassemble tables, transport them along with chairs from the ground floor to the top floor, before reassembling them in their new home. Navigating tight corridors and staircases, the volunteers took it all in their stride, working in pairs to safely transport the items. The top-floor location of the staff room provides a larger space, an adjoining kitchen area and lots of natural light for teachers to enjoy between classes.

Volunteers transporting spare tables to their new home in a welcoming staff room.

The Marriott Park Lane team also helped the school recycle hundreds of pupil notebooks, freeing up vital classroom space but also ensuring the used notebooks can be disposed of confidentially and in an environmentally-friendly way before the start of next term. Volunteers meticulously removed pupil names and images from the notebooks for shredding, allowing the rest of the pages to be recycled.

The Marriott Park Lane team recycling pupil’s old textbooks by removing confidential information.

By flicking through the notebooks, volunteers also got an insight into what pupils had learnt across the academic year – everything from Mathematics to French to Poetry.

A huge thank you to the London Marriott Hotel Park Lane volunteers for their dedication and energy to tackle a range of practical tasks with good spirit and gusto.

Team challenge complete! Employee volunteers from London Marriott Hotel Park Lane.

The activity was arranged as part of our Community Programme which supports our business members to engage in the community. From environmental projects to skill-sharing to coffee mornings, there is something to suit every community engagement plan that creates memorable moments and sustainable impact.

If you are a Marble Arch BID member and would like to find out more about the wide range of community engagement and employee volunteering opportunities, please contact Phil.