14 August 2009, Glasgow: Come and see a garden in Springburn become a sea of yellow on Friday 14 August. No, it’s not bees, wasps or other flying fiends, it’s a team from local insurers Zurich on a one day challenge against the clock.
The swarm of fifteen Zurich staff volunteers – in their Zurich Cares T-Shirts - will be carrying out a garden makeover to help local charity Brain Injury Rehabilitation Trust (BIRT) to prepare for the opening of their new service in October.
The task is to create a series of raised beds suitable for the growing of vegetables and sensory plants.
The new service is the first in Scotland for BIRT and will provide support for 25 people aged between 18 and 65 with acquired brain injury.
The clinical provision will be led by a team of psychologists with nurses, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, physiotherapists and support workers.
Between 70 and 100 jobs will be created when the Service opens.
Service Director BIRT, Lynn Turley said “We are very grateful to the team from Zurich for taking on this challenge. We have close links with Zurich at our other services and are delighted that their support is now established in Scotland.
Carol Dale, Service Manager at Graham Anderson House said “Our aim is for the people we support to return to independent living or to the least restrictive environment possible by helping then re-learn day to day life skills; so Zurich’s challenge will enable us to offer our service users the opportunity to garden which is fun but also a great life skill.”
The team activity is part of Challenge 2009, the annual volunteer event organised by Zurich’s Community Trust, the charitable arm of leading financial services group Zurich in the UK. The scheme encourages all Zurich staff to make a practical difference to charities and community groups across the UK through volunteering and fundraising.
This year is the first time that the full Challenge programme has been extended to Zurich staff in Glasgow and it’s the first challenge task undertaken of this size.
To raise the necessary money to complete the challenge, the Zurich Glasgow team, from Sales, Underwriting and Claims departments, fundraised with a vengeance to reach the sum of £1,500. This total was reached mainly through a charity football match at Clyde Football Club, Broadwood Stadium, Cumbernauld on Saturday 8 August when Zurich male staff paid £5 each to participate in the match. Jackie Kelly, one of the staff volunteers says: “We are really looking forward to transforming a blank canvas into a sensory garden that will be enjoyed by all patients, staff and visitors.”
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Notes to Editors
ABOUT BIRT
The Brain Injury Rehabilitation Trust (BIRT) is one of the leading providers of brain injury rehabilitation in Europe and Australia.
BIRT is a division of The Disabilities Trust and the means by which it provides its brain injury services.
BIRT supports around 550 service users at different stages of rehabilitation from assessment to comprehensive rehabilitation, long-term housing and care, and community-based support. To us, each person is unique and has a programme which is created for their individual needs.
A brain injury can have a devastating effect on someone’s life, whether it is caused by a car accident, stroke, disease or assault.
Its effects might include loss of memory, difficulty in concentrating, restricted movement or feelings of anger.
At The Brain injury Rehabilitation Trust (BIRT) we help people regain the skills which they have lost to give them back their independence and make ordinary life easier. Our clinical expertise, combined with excellent facilities and a dedication to care, gives everybody the best possible chance of rehabilitation following an acquired brain injury.
For further information please contact Helen Tridgell helen.tridgell@thedtgroup.org 01444 239123 or see www.birt.co.uk
About Challenge 2009
• Challenge is Zurich’s biggest annual volunteer event. Employee teams get together to complete a one off project which benefits a local voluntary organisation. It’s fun to do and offers managers and staff a great teambuilding opportunity.
• Challenge is now in its 19th year and last year around 2,000 staff, together with some friends and family, got involved with 184 Challenges across Zurich locations all over the UK.
• Challenge projects range from re-decoration, to entertaining a group of people (often a BBQ or party), to re-plant or clear a garden area to taking groups out on day trips. Sometimes, it can be providing volunteers for events, fundraising or collecting books.
• These challenges will typically be completed anytime from now until the end of September.
• Staff will meet up with the local charity to agree what needs to be done. Fundraising and asking for donated goods, to carry out the challenge, will then commence. Zurich’s Community Trust will match any monies raised by 50% - and up to 100% for the larger and more expensive Challenges.. Health & Safety have vetted all Challenges and Zurich’s Health & Safety team is on hand if a further review if required.
About Zurich’s Community Trust
• Zurich’s Community Trust, a registered charity funded by pre-tax profits and donations from Zurich’s staff, provides an umbrella for all Zurich’s community involvement in the UK.
• Zurich Community Trust manages and matches Zurich employees' and financial advisers' £1 million donations, 22,000 hours of business volunteering time, including 184 annual team challenge activities involving around 2,000 staff.
• Zurich's Community 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. These programmes have helped nearly 500 vulnerable older people through a telephone support service, 200 families where a parent misuses drugs and around 6,000 children who have a mental health issue. In addition, there is a programme in southern India with personal development opportunities for employees.
• Zurich Community Trust has donated around £60 million since inception and celebrated its 35th Anniversary last year.
• Visit Zurich Community Trust’s website on www.zurich.org.uk for more details.
For further information, please contact:
Clare Maynard, Zurich’s Community Trust. Tel: 01793 503712
