Corporate volunteering: How Framery, the world's leading manufacturer of soundproofed workspaces, organised a charity event with more than 60 employees

Framery, the world's leading manufacturer of soundproofed workspaces, organised a charity event in partnership with Commu. More than 60 Framery employees took part in the charity event in Tampere, helping the local community in a variety of ways.

The charity event aimed to support the local community in a variety of ways and provide helping hands for different needs. On Friday 15 September, more than 60 Framery employees participated in a variety of charitable projects, ranging from helping the elderly in nursing homes to fundraising for the Rescue Cat Association as well as donating blood at the Red Cross. Framery employees also helped Tampere Infra with park clean-ups and wrote letters and greetings to lonely people in the area.

Hanna Kanti-Paul, who works at Framery, visited the local Kontukoti to help the elderly. She wanted to make the elderly happy by talking and spending time together.

"There is a lot of wisdom in older people and there is a lot to learn from their life experience. It is also a joy to know that my visit can cheer up and make the residents feel good for a longer period of time," says Kanti-Paul. "Just a couple of hours' visit can have a big impact on someone's life. All it takes is being yourself and approaching a new situation with courage and an open mind. No previous experience is necessary."

"We want to develop social responsibility in our work culture. The act of helping enables our employees to be part of the change," says Anni Hallila, Head of People and Culture at Framery. "As a company, we want to enable our employees to get involved in the social and environmental issues that are most important to them."

Framery and Commu want to encourage other companies and communities to set a good example in the Tampere region. 

"The hope is that employees will be inspired to help in their own daily lives and that we can build Framery Volunteer Day into an annual event!" Hallila sums up.

Kanti-Paul also started to think about how to continue helping.

"Helping made me feel really good and the idea of volunteering in the future was born. On the way home, I had a lot of different ideas for the future," Kanti-Paul smiles.

Local companies pass the good forward together

Commu has been built by a team of young entrepreneurs from Tampere with the aim of lowering the threshold for asking for and giving help. Through Commu, individuals, nonprofits and companies can do good deeds in their local areas. Commu has quickly grown to become Finland's largest platform for helping others and has already enabled more than 10,000 good deeds.

"Each of us has skills and experiences that can help others," says Ronnie Nygren, one of the founders of Commu. "That's why it's really great that Framery staff were among the first to set out to do good, with their time and skills."

Commu helps companies to make volunteering and other good deeds part of everyday life and thereby build a stronger employer brand and employee satisfaction. Doing good is proven to generate well-being. With Framery, the aim is to make the event an annual and permanent event that is also known outside the company. Commu will bring its expertise and tools to the table to ensure that the event is run as efficiently as possible.