8 March 2005, Zurich’s staff will be out in force this Friday 11 March for Red Nose Day. Over 1,000 Zurich staff volunteers will be giving up their evening to take pledges at three different call centres (Cardiff, Portsmouth and Swindon) or will take part in a wide range of fundraising activities during the day.
Zurich people will be actively involved with this year’s Comic Relief theme RND’05 – Big Hair & Beyond….Just do Something. Some will transform themselves with big hair dos, paint faces and wear crazy red clothes, whilst others will raise money to transform someone else’s life forever by taking part in quizzes, baking cakes or putting themselves forward as Zurich’s very own pop idol.
They will be motivated by the knowledge that on the last Red Nose Day, Zurich staff raised a total of £43,000 and took pledges from the general public amounting to a grand total of £0.5 million.
Staff fundraising activity will take place at Zurich’s regional offices including Cardiff, Cheltenham, Portsmouth and Swindon. Volunteers will be taking part in the following activities:
Cardiff: 80 staff will take pledges on the night.
Cheltenham: dressing as Super Heroes, wearing red, baking cakes, staging their very own Pop Idol contest and a Diet Coke Break in the glass elevator that runs through the centre of the building plus raising sponsorship to have faces painted red, yellow or any other colour!
Portsmouth: 80 staff will take pledges on the night between 6 p.m. and midnight.
Swindon: - 200 staff will take pledges on the night as well as baking cakes, wearing red, a prize of a salon cut will be given to the maddest BIG hair do, a quiz and a tuck shop trolley will be wheeled around the office during the day.
Pam Webb, Community Affairs Manager commented,
“Once again our people have come up with some innovative ways to support the very real needs highlighted by Comic Relief. Many will give up their evening to take pledges in our call centres, whilst others will contribute generously to the day’s activities.”
Back to top
Notes to Editors:
- Zurich’s Community Trust, a registered charity funded by pre-tax profits and donations from its people, provides an umbrella for all community involvement in the UK.
- Zurich Cares manages and matches Zurich employees' and financial advisers' £1 million donations, 20,000 hours of volunteering including 160 annual challenge activities.
- Zurich Cares Trust Programmes create sustainable change through long-term funding and active employee involvement. Zurich works closely with innovative partners to significantly impact the lives of disadvantaged people in the UK and overseas. The Programmes tackle social exclusion and the most vulnerable older people’s issues. In addition, there is a programme in southern India with personal development opportunities for employees.
Visit Zurich’s website on www.zurich.org.uk for more details.
About Comic Relief:
- Red Nose Day is about tackling poverty and social injustice in the UK and Africa.
- Since its launch in 1985, Comic Relied has raised over £337 million.
- The theme for RND ’05, ‘Big Hair and Beyond – Just do Something’, is about changing the way you look for the day to transform someone else’s life forever.
- For more information go to www.rednoseday.com
Back to top
