Stroud 7 December 2007: Zurich Intermediary Group staff have made up ‘Moving Out’ packs for a Stroud charity to distribute to local people who are recovering from drug and alcohol misuse. With these starter packs they will be helped to move on from treatment and rehabilitation into independent living.
Drug and alcohol treatment charity, The Nelson Trust, provides residential and day care treatment for over 150 people each year and a further 100 people through their resettlement and aftercare services.
They were delighted when a group of over 35 staff from Zurich’s Customer Communications team in Bishops Cleeve, Cheltenham offered to make up five packs. The packs are designed to enable those moving on to be able to cook for themselves, and so include everything from kettle, toaster and pots and pans to cutlery and crockery to eat with to cleaning materials like washing up liquid and tea towels to dry it all up afterwards. In fact, Zurich staff got so taken with the idea that they managed to raise enough money to buy an extra two packs taking it up to seven in total costing around £560.
This project is part of Challenge 2007, Zurich Community Trust’s biggest annual volunteer event with around 25 challenges taking place around Gloucestershire. Staff teams get together to complete one-off projects, which benefit a local organisation. It creates awareness of community issues, can be fun and a teambuilding activity for those involved.
Tony Martin, Zurich Community Trust’s Volunteer Manager commented: “We were delighted to be able to support The Nelson Trust. They provide an invaluable service to those people that need a helping hand to become independent – literally a lifeline for some.”
David Gibbons, one of the volunteers from the Customer Communications Team said “We raised money from dress down days in the office, raffles and from generous donations from colleagues. The Challenge was a great experience for our team too as it made us realise how fortunate we all are and fostered a good team culture too.” He added “It just goes to show that you don’t have to make huge sacrifices to make a big difference to people’s lives”
Richard Lister, Chairman of The Nelson Trust said, “Dependency on drugs or alcohol leaves many people without a job or a home. That's why, at The Nelson Trust, we offer not just a comprehensive programme of treatment but also educational and training opportunities plus a resettlement and housing initiative. We believe that by providing a complete programme of care and support, we offer people the best chance of recovery.” He added “Many of our clients do not have even the basics for independent living, nor the resources to buy them, so ‘The Moving Out’ packs that Zurich’s staff have made up will go a long way to helping our clients with a good start to their independent living.”
This year over 1,500 staff, together with some family and friends, have taken part in around 200 Challenges around Zurich locations across the UK.
