Travelling Pudsey Bears leave Essex to kick off company-wide fundraising

Company news

Oct 12, 2009

In 2008, Care UK staff from across the company, along with some of  the people that they care for, took part in activities including cycling to work, sponsored walks and cake sales to raise money for the charity. The staff raised £3758 which was matched by the company to give a total donation of £7516

To help spread the word about Children in Need, Care UK staff also organised a ‘travelling Pudsey bear’ competition. Staff in each of the five divisions tried to see how far their Pudsey bear could get by travelling to different Care UK facilities with colleagues. Locations were noted down in a mini passport to see which bear went the furthest and photos published on the company’s intranet show Pudsey in a huge range of locations varying from Brighton to the Scottish lochs.  This week saw the 2009 travelling Pudseys being launched on their promotional tour with bears travelling alongside staff ranging from carers to doctors.  

The fundraising is co-ordinated in her spare time by Sue Fairs who works as a PA for Care UK in Colchester.  Sue said: “The travelling Pudseys might just seem a bit of fun but they actually help to make everyone aware that 20th November is the big fundraising day so even more staff will hopefully get involved.”

In 2008, a key fundraising activity was a sponsored walk where teachers and some of the children we care for climbed to the top of Brown Clee Hill, the highest point in Shropshire at 546 metres.

In Essex, where the company has its head office, local Colchester businesses including Palladian Press, the Lemon Tree restaurant, the Eight Ash Green Holiday Inn and the Rose and Crown Hotel showed their support by donating raffle prizes with tickets for the draw sold to staff across the country. The raffle alone raised over £1000.

Mike Parish, Chief Executive of Care UK said: “I want to congratulate everyone that took part and showed their enthusiasm for raising money for such a great cause.”

Care UK staff are already planning fundraising events for the 2009 Children in Need activities with preparations for a raffle, dress down day and cake sales already well under way.


Notes to Editors

Care UK is a leading independent provider of health and social care.  Working in close partnership with local authorities, PCTs and SHAs, the company draws on 25 years of experience and expertise to deliver highly specialised, value for money, tailor-made service solutions including primary and secondary care, as well as residential and community care.
 
Care UK is by far the largest operator of Independent Sector Treatment Centres on behalf of the NHS. Care UK also runs a number of NHS Walk-in Centres, as well as NHS GP surgeries, out of hours services, urgent care and prison health facilities.
 
Care UK operates over 50 nursing and residential homes for older people and provides care for those with learning disabilities or mental health needs including supported living solutions.
 
The company provides over 120,000 hours of care and support each week to people in their own homes and operates a range of specialist children’s services including residential care and fostering.

The company supports good causes by allocating up to £25,000 of cash through its ‘Working in the Community’ scheme.  This matches, up to a given level,  pound for pound the fundraising efforts of Care UK  staff for registered charities which qualify under the scheme.
 

More information is available on Care UK’s website at www.careuk.com