Impact Hours are paid, protected hours to spend on volunteering with local charities or organisations, and it’s one of the ways that everyone at Admiral is empowered to Make A Difference.
Meet Ben from our Travel department who’s super passionate about helping his community.
Hi Ben, can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Hello, I work in Admiral’s Travel Insurance department as a Travel Insurance Consultant, and I’ve been in the company for seven years. I first started in the Customer Loyalty, supporting our motor insurance customers for five years with things like policy adjustments, renewal queries, and general customer service. I then came across the opportunity to transfer to the Travel department, which was quite a smooth transition as it was a lot of the same skills needed, just for a different product line. That was two years ago, and I’ve been really enjoying my role since! My day largely consists of taking inbound and sometimes outbound calls to our customers, aiming to give them the best customer service and the best possible outcomes.
Can you tell us about how you Make A Difference at Admiral?
Beyond my role of helping customers every day, I really enjoy helping my local community. I’ve used my Impact Hours, which is dedicated time given to each colleague to volunteer with a local organisation during work hours, alongside my team and it’s something that I enjoy immensely.
We’ve used our Impact Hours on days like supporting a charity called Stump up for Trees where we helped to plant trees and organised them to for replanting in the Brecon Beacons. We also attended the Hope Rescue centre, a charity which saves stray and abandoned dogs in South Wales which was highly rewarding work for all of us in the team. My most recent Impact Hours were spent in Porthkerry Park in Barry, litter picking and helping to tidy up a place that so many in the community regularly enjoy. It was rewarding seeing how much we did on the day and how it impacted the environment.
We all encourage each other to use our Impact Hours and it’s a great way to connect with your team outside of the office, which is an extra bonus.
How important is it for you to be able to Make A Difference?
I really feel that everyone benefits from having some kind of involvement in the local community or with a charity. I’ve been involved with many charities over the years with fundraising and support, even outside of Admiral, so it’s something that’s quite close to my heart. I was a volunteer with the Terence Higgins trust for about seven years as I wanted to give back to the LGBTQ+ community. The value of helping others and to give your time to local and smaller charities is so fulfilling, and it’s why I am passionate to Make A Difference where I can.
How are you supported to do this?
Outside of the dedicated time to volunteer using Impact Hours, I’m supported by my managers and other senior leaders in the department who really drive these efforts forward. As I mentioned, Impact Hour days are a great way to bond with the team, so it really is a win-win for the department and our leaders see value in encouraging us all to use this time to help our communities, while also helping us work better together. All departments across Travel make use of Impact Hour days and there is always such a positive buzz when people come back and tell us all about their experience. It’s a really positive environment!
Impact Hours are just one of the ways we empower colleagues to Make A Difference, and it’s great to see how engrained it is in the culture of our Travel department.
Discover how other colleagues use their Impact Hours, like Danny who volunteers as a Special Sergeant outside of his role as a Security Solution Architect.
