TATA VOLUNTEERING WEEK 5 Update No. 15

Street play on cleanliness CGPL  |  Gujarat   The volunteers from Coastal Gujarat Limited organized a street play in a nearby village and schools to create awareness among the community and children on importance of cleanliness. This will help in making the village and school clean and pave the way for a systematic disposal of waste. The street play was successful in creating the mass awareness among the community especially among the children.     Cleanliness drive Ginger Hotels   |  Bangalore   A team of eight volunteers participated in the activity of cleaning the surrounding area adjacent to the hotel, under the focus area “hygiene & cleanliness”. During the activity, the team members actively participated in cleaning the pavement towards bus stop and the nearby public areas. This pavement is frequented by several employees of various companies in the vicinity.     Career counselling for children Ginger Hotels   |  Mysore   Students from Vidhya Vikas College of Hotel Management visited the hotel for a tour. The Hotel Manager briefed all the students about the Tata Group, Ginger Hotels and gave details about different career options in the hotel. The Students were escorted to all the departments by the team and were given details about the departments’ daily operations. The Assistant Hotel Manager briefed them about the day to day front desk operation. Housekeeping Supervisor explained about room cleaning. A training class on Hospitality was conducted for all the students. All the students and their faculty were extremely delighted with the warm hospitality of Ginger Mysore and cherished the learning experience.     Fund Raising drive Tata Technologies   |  Pune   Tata Technologies Corporate Sustainability Team invited Pimpri Chinchwad Handicap Center to put up an exhibition & stall at its corporate office. Employees were invited to visit the stall and purchase handmade articles made by beneficiaries of the non-profit. Some of the articles included dusters, table cloths, bed-sheets and handlooms articles which were purchased by the employees. A total of INR 4730 was raised through the sale of products.     Distribution of clothes Indian Hotels  |  Jodhpur   Taj – Umaid Bhawan Palace conducted a clothes distribution activity wherein old clothes were given to the underprivileged. Umaid Bhawan Palace and team searched for many underprivileged areas nearby and distributed clothes to the needy. They also educated them about cleanliness and proper hygiene to help them prevent common illnesses. All were very happy.     Cleanliness drive Indian Hotels  |  Jodhpur Umaid Bhawan Palace conducted a cleaning drive to make Jodhpur ‘a clean city’. The area from Lancer gate to the Talab gate has a lot of waste material like plastic bags, papers, used packets of food which invites many diseases. The team worked enthusiastically to clean the area.     Cooking session Indian Hotels  |  Surat   The Gateway Hotel Surat organized a Cooking and Mocktail session at the Nari Sanrakshan Gruh. The volunteers demonstrated the activity and served all the ladies a few dishes of Chinese cuisine like noodles, fried rice and manchurian. The session was interactive and informative. The participants were thrilled to participate and enthusiastically learned the preparation of mocktail and Chinese recipes.     Visit to an old age home Indian Hotels  |  Surat   A team of 20 volunteers visited an Old Age Home - Ambika Niketan Vrudhhashram, Vesu. It is home to 120 elderly, between the age group of 60 yrs to 90 yrs. Volunteers organized activities like antakshari and passing the parcel. Afterwards a special lunch was served. All were very happy to share their experience with the volunteers.     Cleanliness drive JUSCO  |  Jamshedpur   Team JUSCO conducted a cleanliness drive at Bage Bhatta Basti, Marine Drive, Jamshedpur. This campaign also aimed at spreading awareness among the people of basti about the significance of sanitation, hygiene & healthy activity.     Session on personal hygiene Rallis India  |  Lote   A group of six volunteers from Rallis India Lote Unit visited Z P School and organized a session on Personal Hygiene and Sanitation for their students. A total of 120 students participated in the programme. The volunteers conducted a practical session on personal hygiene and explained the importance to the children.     Sale of NGO products Tata Business Support Services  |  Mohali & Jamshedpur   Tata BSS team supported a sale cum exhibition of handmade items by NGOs Reed and Udaan Viklang. The stall was set up by people from affirmative action communities. It was a huge success among the female employees of Tata BSS.     Distribution of clothes Tata Business Support Services  |  Jamshedpur   Tata BSS team visited Badla Basti a slum area in Jamshedpur and interacted with the residents. The team also distributed clothes and utensils. The slum dwellers flocked towards the team and enjoyed the interaction.     Visit to an orphanage Tata Business Support Services  |  Pune   Seven volunteers went to Anjuman-E-Islam Peer Mohammad girls’ orphanage. They interacted with the bright young girls and distributed clothes and toys. They also shared their own career aspirations and hopes with the team.     Women safety workshop Tata Business Support Services  |  Hyderabad   Tata BSS conducted a women safety workshop with the aim to ensure safety of all its female employees. The workshop enhanced the participants self –confidence, understanding self-strength, and situational awareness, understanding your private space and understanding the anatomy and using it to one’s advantage. The coordinator also made the participant store all the Emergency Numbers and Emergency Apps. In turn the participants pledged to make the other women employees aware of the same teachings.     Road safety and defensive driving Tata Business Support Services  |  Hyderabad   With the ever increasing vehicles on the road, road accidents and road rage have become very frequent. Tata BSS Begumpet and Kukatpally office in Hyderabad conducted road safety and defensive driving sessions. The awareness session talked about traffic rules, safe driving tactics, legal awareness, mechanism of the car related to safe driving, understanding the difficulties of night / valley driving, understanding the problems related to break down and actions to be taken in case of emergencies.     Rural cleanliness drive Tata Chemicals   |  Mithapur   A Gram Safai Abhiyan program was arranged wherein 35 volunteers of TCL visited Makanpur village with an aim to create awareness among village residents about keeping a hygienic environment around their house and clean village streets. A rally was organised to create awareness on cleanliness and to ensure a garbage-free village. The volunteers, village residents and SHG members cleaned the roads with the help of their tractors and cleaning tools. It was a great team work.     Home Safety Program Tata Chemicals   |  Mithapur   A team of safety department, TCL conducted an awareness session on the safe usage of electricity in their homes and how to prevent electrical hazards to humans and domestic animals from electrical installations outside. They were also reminded about not using electricity for fencing their farms and orchards. They also covered hazards of gas cylinder and insisted on regularly changing the cylinder rings and turning off the regulator when not in use. Practical demonstration was given by the safety team and the residents were guided not to use faulty appliances and keep water away from electric points.     Water conservation session Tata Coffee  |  Telangana   A group of nine volunteers from Tata Coffee ICD-Toopran interacted with the Telanagana government residential school children. The importance of water conservation, sustainable contribution for ecological restoration and awareness was shared by volunteers with the school children. This was followed by a drawing competition on “water sustainability in a changing world”.     Beach cleanliness drive Tata Consultancy Services   |  Chennai   Marina - pride of Chennai is losing its grace day by day with too much of garbage and plastic wastes. Angels of Marina is a group that works every Sunday to bring back the beauty of Marina to Chennai. Every Sunday TCS volunteers join them for their regular clean-up activities and sensitization program for general public.   On the occasion of Women's Day, TCS celebrated the queens of Marina, the corporation sweepers who ensure that Marina is clean and better for people to drop in. They are unsung heroines and real angels of Marina who know the value and pride of Marina better than anyone else. The volunteers greeted them with roses and shared their views on why one should stand for Marina.     Volunteering for Animal Welfare Tata Consultancy Services   |  Chennai   Blue Cross of India (BCI) works to alleviate the suffering of animals in India. It works to create awareness on Animal Welfare and Animal Rights   Volunteers underwent a sensitization program which gave information on animal welfare and the scope of activities that they can get involved in. 34 volunteers and 5 kids had great time inside BCI where they took care of pets and painted their bowls. It was wonderful to see the elders and the children making such a great connect.     Painting with the children Tata Consultancy Services   |  Chennai   As a part of ‘Support A School’ initiative by AWARE, TCS takes care of a crèche at Chemmenchery. The premises has recently undergone renovation and repair works. The volunteers pitched in to paint the crèches. Around 75 TCS associates across all the locations in Chennai gathered up to do Sanding, Cleaning and Painting in 5 ICCW Creches.     Education Audit Tata Consultancy Services   |  Chennai   Imagine the future of a child who can't read a simple sentence at age 10! And, the future of a nation where 50% children finish primary school without learning basic arithmetic or reading! There are many reasons for the poor education status in India. This inspired volunteers to conduct an Education Audit in communities to understand the reading and arithmetic skills of every child.   Based on this audit result, the volunteers came to a conclusion that only when education is engaging and fun, children will look forward to school and realize their potential. This is the only way to ensure that the current generation is the last one with a literacy rate below 50%! So the volunteers have associated with Bhumi NGO to bridge this gap in the community.     Story Telling Session Tata Consultancy Services   |  Chennai   Children possess an innate curiosity about the world around them and we believed it is essential to keep that curiosity alive. Observing the National Science Day, TCS volunteers joined Pratham's campaign #WhyWonderWeek, a week-long celebration of books that aimed to introduce children to topics from robotics and artificial intelligence to genes and tree canopies. TCS came up with 5 titles that touch upon Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (popularly called STEM). The volunteers hosted this session in a community where the children need more help to learn Science and Mathematical concepts. They carried 5 books on 5 different concepts that include length measurements, fractions, about flight and aero planes, seeds and trees. Children enjoyed this session and narrated their own stories through the illustrations. It helped kindle their curiosity to learn more.     Cleaning a lake Tata Consultancy Services   |  Chennai   Since 2014, TCS have been volunteering with Environmentalist Foundation of India (EFI) every Sunday, supporting rejuvenation of 39 lakes and ponds. As part of World Water Day celebrations, EFI organized a lake-clean-up campaign at Adambakkam, Thiruneermalai, Keezhkattalai, West Mambalam Pond, Arasankazhani Lake (near Chemmanchery-Perumbakkam region), Perumbakkam Lake and Sithalapakkam Lake. More than 100 volunteers poured in over the weekend to clear tonnes of garbage. People living near the sprawling lakes and tanks in Chennai moved out of the comforts of their homes and started cleaning them up.     Paint for a Cause Tata Consultancy Services   |  Chennai   The Paint Box is an initiative to spruce up our dirty, spat upon walls and public spaces. Their objective is to bring out different strokes of art and performance art onto the streets, be it on the walls, bus stops or pavements. This is a fun initiative which hopes to bring together art enthusiasts, public space 'cleaners' and lovers of aesthetics.   The love for Chennai city got volunteers to get out and start hands-on work in public spaces. The idea is to bring about a complete attitudinal change in people about the way they use these spaces — ensure an end to littering and urination, and disregard for their surroundings. The drawings are simple geometric shapes and sometimes the artwork also incorporates poetry.     Needs assessment Tata Consulting Engineers  |  Mumbai   A team of volunteers from Tata Consulting Engineers Ltd. Mumbai office assisted ‘Doorstep School’ with their “Every Child Counts” programme. The volunteers conducted a door-to-door survey of the target homes to collect the details regarding children in each home, whether the children go to school, if not why, what are their interests, hobbies, etc. as well as brief details regarding the profession of the parents. About 250 homes were covered in this survey. The collected data will help Doorstep School to develop suitable programmes for the betterment of these children.     Setting up a library for a school Tata Global Beverages  |  Kerala   A voluntary Community Social Service day was undertaken at Government Aided Lower Primary School which provides primary education to 130 children of plantation employees. A total of 57 stakeholders from the factory took part in this day-long social activity which included permanent, temporary and contract employees. The employees undertook the task of setting up a library for the school to imbibe the reading habit among the children. The library is stocked with 118 books, a collection of Tamil, Malayalam and English books apart from other study materials. The Headmaster of the school has gracefully taken the responsibility of managing the library. The volunteers also completed essential upkeep works, thus improving the general environment of the school. The CSR team spent some time with school children on that day and sweets were distributed among children.     Launch of ‘TML Lab to Land Programme’ Tata Motors  |  Jamshedpur   TML Lab to Land Programme is a joint initiative undertaken by Teams Flora Horticulture Society (FHS) and CSR through which Senior Leaders of Tata Motors and TML Drivelines, Jamshedpur adopt villages and the Divisional Employee Volunteering Coordinators would mentor and support farmers in adopting modern Horticulture and Allied practices.   The TML Jamshedpur CSR team, with its extensive rural presence has identified 7 tribal dominated villages to be developed as ‘model’ villages, in line with the Affirmative Action Program. In the inaugural ceremony of this initiative ‘TML Lab to Land” Programme’, volunteers from 7 divisions, under the leadership of their divisional heads formally adopted one village to provide sustained mentorship and handholding. The first batch of more than 50 identified farmers underwent training for mushroom cultivation and Bee Keeping, two of the many allied activities, being promoted by Flora Horticulture Society. The Head -Jamshedpur Plant, during his interaction with more than 100 enthusiastic volunteers and farmers present, encouraged the volunteers to work together and support villagers to earn sustainable livelihood by adopting modern farming and animal husbandry techniques.     Session on safety Tata Motors  |  Jamshedpur   A session on safety was organized for contract workers wherein a retired Tata Motors executive volunteered his time.     Blood Donation Camp Tata Motors  |  Jamshedpur and Mumbai   Employees participated in large numbers to donate blood at the Blood Donation Centre. Over 77 units of blood were collected during the mass blood donation camp from donors from various Divisions of Jamshedpur and Mumbai office.     Awareness about birds Tata Motors  |  Mumbai   The volunteers assisted Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) in raising awareness of bird habitats, history of flamingos, environment conservation and nature restoration to municipal school kids, who were invited to see the flamingos and enjoy a day close to the fauna habitat.     Poster making competition for children Tata Motors  |  Mumbai   TANDA - Towards Advocacy, Networking and Developmental Action - works with tribal communities to help uplift these communities via education, rehabilitation, vocational teaching, etc. About 20 students from TANDA visited the Tata Motors office wherein they participated in a poster making competition judged by two senior colleagues. The students, from the age group of 13-15, listened as the volunteers explained the kind of work they do and how they got here. It was a great learning experience.     Sports day Tata Projects  |  Hyderabad   Tata Projects team visited two Government Primary schools and conducted sports and various competitions for the school students. The team organised various activities like Musical Chair, Running Race, Singing, Storytelling and Frog Jump. They also distributed prizes and gifts to the students who actively participated in the sports and various competitions.     Blood donation camp Tata Projects  |  Hyderabad   A blood donation camp was organized with the help of central blood bank Hyderabad, a Government organisation. The blood donated by the volunteers will be utilised for the poor patients of the Government hospitals. A total of 55 volunteers participated in the camp.     Dance lessons for children Tata Steel   |  Jamshedpur   A special dance learning session was organised for the bustee children at Kasidh area. A family member volunteered her services for the same.     Visit to Cheshire home Tata Steel   |  Jamshedpur   Employees of A-F Blast Furnace JDC, Tata Steel, visited R.P. Patel Cheshire Home which takes care of girls with severe multiple disabilities. The volunteers donated collectively bought grocery items like rice, dal, etc. to Cheshire Home. All girls were happy to receive the gifts.     Working with youth TSPDL  |  Kolkata   Nine volunteers from TSPDL, Kolkata visited Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy (IICP) for 2 days- 21st & 22nd March, 2016 and volunteered in their Crafts section, Printing and Binding works and Catering and Bakery unit. The units are run by trained youth who have cerebral palsy. TSPDL volunteers helped them in their daily work and contributed to the production of these units, which are commercially marketed for the benefit of the Institute.     Craft making workshop TSPDL  |  Kolkata   UDVAAS is an institution that aids in providing education to underprivileged children. TSPDL volunteers organized a workshop on craft making for the children from Class 5 to Class 10. The volunteers enjoyed demonstrating simple crafts like making coloured lamps, butterflies and colourful fish using coloured chart papers, paper plates and coloured ribbons. At the end of the workshop, TSPDL volunteers conducted a competition among the children to create creative fish from what they learnt. The creations were overwhelming and the children showed extraordinary talent and interest for craft.

*This update covers only some of the activities undertaken by companies. www.tataengage.com