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22/12/2005
NENE HOUSING SOCIETY PRESENTS £12,000 TO LOCAL CHARITIES
Peterborough-based Nene Housing Society has presented four local charities with a share of £12,000 following its highly successful Make A Difference Day.
The Salvation Army received a cheque for £5,000 and over £1,000 was donated to each of the Sue Ryder Care Home at Thorpe Hall, the children’s ward at Peterborough District Hospital and East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices.
Eight of Nene’s sheltered housing schemes also received £500 to spend on communal facilities and activities of their choice.
The Make a Difference Day initiative was organised by the UK’s largest volunteering and training organisation, Community Service Volunteers (CSV). During the two-week campaign volunteers donated their time and skills to make a positive impact in their local community.
All staff at Nene Housing (around 80 employees) dedicated a day to help make a difference for older people living at four of Nene’s Peterborough sheltered housing schemes.
Teams of around 20 members of staff each worked for the day at one of four schemes. Activities undertaken included redecorating communal rooms, creating new garden areas, ‘spring cleaning’ the homes of residents who are not themselves able to reach awkward corners or behind furniture, and running events ranging from lunches to tea dances.
The teams were given a small budget to work with but they decided to obtain most of the resources for their activities through sponsorship from local companies, usually in the form of donated products or services.
At the same time, each team was raising money for charity. Nene Housing itself pledged to make a donation equivalent to the money raised from donations of goods and services from suppliers.
Although all the teams made a huge difference at the schemes, a winner had to be chosen and the team that made the biggest ‘difference’ on the day was able to choose the local charity to which the money would be donated.
The winning team worked at the Eaglesthorpe sheltered scheme in the New England area of Peterborough. The team’s activities included securing and laying a new carpet in the communal lounge, obtaining and hanging new curtains and holding a lunch for the residents with professional entertainers.
Nene Housing’s managing director Andrew Williams said: “The objective of the day was to help build team working at Nene, with people from different departments who normally have little to do with one another working together in a fun environment. We also wanted to make a real difference to the lives of residents in the schemes where we undertook activities as well as raise money for charity.
“We achieved all those objectives – in fact, we raised so much more money for charity than we expected that we have been able to give away thousands of pounds.
“It was a remarkable day and a tremendous achievement by the staff.”
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Note to editors:
• In total £1,000 was donated to Sue Ryder Care Home at Thorpe Hall, £1,150 to the children’s ward at Peterborough District Hospital and £1,850 to East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices.
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16/12/2005
FATHER CHRISTMAS APPOINTS SMYE HOLLAND ASSOCIATES
AS OFFICIAL PR AGENCY
Father Christmas has appointed Peterborough-based marketing and public relations consultancy Smye Holland Associates as its official PR agency to help launch a new service.
Cambridge-based Father Christmas Limited - which specialises in providing letters and telephone calls from Santa - has employed Smye Holland Associates to raise the profile of the company.
Smye Holland Associates has been assisting with the launch of the company’s latest service, Merry Textmas, during the run-up to Christmas. The idea is the brainchild of Stephen Bottomley, managing director of Father Christmas. The brand new service delivers personalised text messages to children direct from Santa during the run-up to Christmas Day.
Children whose parents sign up to the service will receive three personalised text messages from Santa to keep them updated on his progress as he delivers presents around the world. Children will know, for example, that he has left the North Pole on schedule and of any delays that might slow his journey.
The service is designed to add a touch of hi-tech sparkle and excitement in the build up to Christmas Day.
Smye Holland Associates is undertaking activities including media relations to raise awareness of the service and encourage people to visit the website at www.santa.co.uk.
“We are delighted to be working with Father Christmas, it is not often that you get the chance to work with the world’s most famous name,” said Geoff Jones, account director at Smye Holland Associates. “The service offered by Father Christmas is quite unique and helps to add that extra magic to Christmas.”
• For more information visit www.santa.co.uk
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16/12/2005
DRAIN DOCTOR GETS TO WORK IN SOMERSET
A dazzling plumbing service has come to Somerset thanks to a local man taking control of his own Drain Doctor Plumbing franchise with a vow to rebuild the plumbing trade’s tarnished reputation.
James Morris, 27, is now the owner of a Drain Doctor Plumbing business covering Taunton and the surrounding towns and villages.
James said: “I looked at a number of opportunities when researching franchise businesses but, after having spoken to the former owner of this franchise, I was impressed with the emphasis placed on customer service.
“When this franchise became available I knew it was too good an opportunity to pass up. It is a national company, with all the expertise and resources that come with that, but provides a genuinely local service.”
“I hope to considerably expand my business over the next year or so. My aim is to increase the drainage consultancy element as well as to take a fresh approach to marketing Drain Doctor Plumbing across the area.
“Customers are given fixed-price, no obligation quotes and all our work is guaranteed. Our technicians are fully trained in latest techniques, such as closed circuit camera surveys and no-dig drain repairs. They even wear plastic boot covers and use work mats to protect floor coverings when working inside.”
James has previously worked in the groundworks industry and in his spare time he enjoys motocross and collecting and restoring agricultural machinery.
Drain Doctor Plumbing is a member of the UK Trades Confederation, which operates a customer evaluation system, and it was the first national organisation in its sector to register under the UK government’s Quality Mark Approved scheme, which aims to protect householders from unscrupulous tradesmen.
Drain Doctor Plumbing – 08000 68 19 58.
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