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Hotpoint Marathon Team Supports Childline!

Employees at Indesit Company have teamed together to train for the London Marathon 2005. Like many of the thousands taking part, they are running for a charity - ChildLine. ChildLine is Hotpoint's chosen charity and provides a 24 hour helpline for children and young people throughout the UK.

The four team members: Lisa Curran, Petra Murray, Janet Green and Barbara Ferguson, have all been undertaking rigorous training regimes to ensure they are fit for the challenge. For some members, training began as early as summer 2004 and now the count down has begun, ready for the 26 mile challenge.

Hotpoint pledged to raise £50,000 for ChildLine with internal fundraising activities, such as the Marathon. Other activity has included weekly dress down days, a James Bond theme night, a trek in the Scottish Highlands and much more is planned for 2005! Hotpoint is doing all it can to support the charity and has already reached an impressive £20,000.

Neil Tunstall, Marketing Director, Indesit Company comments: ‘ChildLine is an extremely worthwhile charity and we have been overwhelmed by the support from employees. The Marathon is a tremendous challenge and the runners have a huge task ahead. It is a fantastic way of raising much-needed funds for the charity and we wish them the best of luck.’

For further information on Hotpoint call 08701 50 60 70 or visit http://www.hotpoint.co.uk

For further information on ChildLine call Elly Brenchley on 020 7650 3244 or visit http://www.childline.org.uk

ChildLine is the UK's free, 24 hour helpline for children in danger or distress. Trained volunteer counsellors comfort, advise and protect children and young people. The number for children to call is 0800 1111.

Maytag’s Charity Work

Maytag UK has been working extremely charitably raising money for a variety of causes. Throughout the year Maytag employees have been having fun and rewarding times in the aid of several charities.

Debbie Selby, Maytag UK’s Call Centre Manager, has organised a number of events from dress-down and fancy dress days, quizzes, competitions and car washing. And when the temperature rises in the office then there’s a swear box on hand to deal with those difficult moments. The Maytag team has raised thousands of pounds on behalf of Cancer Research, Children in Need and Comic Relief.

Maytag UK staff before they went off and changed into comedy costumes for charity

Debbie says of her fundraising: ‘I really enjoy the challenge of organising charity events and even more the results and rewards it brings in helping someone in need. Everyone at Maytag is really supportive and joins in whenever they can.’ Debbie continues, ‘I recently took part in the Hyde Park walk in aid of Cancer Research and raised £600 through sponsorship from my colleagues at Maytag which is a fantastic result.’

Maytag UK's Managing Director Richard Thompson comments, ‘Debbie is well known for her hard work and efforts on behalf of charity and we are very proud to support her at every opportunity. With her efforts and additional company donations we have raised several thousands of pounds. This is all great credit to the team at Maytag UK and has an additional benefit of raising team and company morale and brings more than a few smiles daily.’

American Standard Donates Medical Equipment to Bulgarian Hospital

American Standard Companies Inc. announced on February 4th a $60,000 donation to the Dr. Stoycho Hristov Hospital in Sevlievo, Bulgaria, for the purchase of an echocardiograph, an imaging tool that enables health professionals to view the heart as it functions.

The company employs approximately 3,700 people in four manufacturing plants in Sevlievo and the surrounding communities. The plants make ceramic bathroom fixtures and faucets.

The equipment was purchased with assistance from Mrs. Kathy Pardew, wife of U.S. Ambassador James Pardew, local charities and the company's local business leaders.

The donation is a result of a visit to Bulgaria by American Standard business leaders and board of directors in March 2004. At that the time, Fred Poses, chairman and CEO for American Standard, pledged the $60,000 on behalf of the company's Bulgarian employees and their families.

'The obvious dedication and professionalism of the doctors, nurses and staff at the Dr. Stoycho Hristov Hospital made us grateful that it is the main health care provider for our Sevlievo area employees and their families,' Poses said. 'Seeing the hospital in action inspired us to extend our support with a gift to finance the purchase of needed equipment. We're delighted that a state-of-the-art echocardiograph is now in use at the hospital.'

Jacuzzi UK Raises over £20,000 for Charity

Jacuzzi UK, the UK bathroom manufacturer, has raised over £20,000 for the company's Corporate Charity, the British Heart Foundation in just 12 months.
Jacuzzi UK staff have organised a wide variety of activities throughout the year including raffles, charity balls, football challenges and a 'Superstars' fitness tournament during July that raised over £5000.

Steve Cox, Managing Director, Jacuzzi UK/Europe congratulated everyone who has taken part in events over the year. He said 'Taking part in this type of activity is a great way of supporting the British Heart Foundation and enabling staff and their families to get to know each other socially while promoting the need for a healthy lifestyle.'

Penny Jones from the British Heart Foundation commented 'The British Heart Foundation benefits greatly from supporters such as Jacuzzi UK, the money raised will enable us to continue our fight against heart disease and provide much needed care for those who suffer from long term heart failure on a daily basis. The charity team at Jacuzzi UK has been incredibly supportive and it has been a great pleasure working with everyone involved.'

Jacuzzi UK will continue support the British Heart Foundation over the coming 12 months and has raised the company's target to £25,000.

H&R Johnson Reveals its Hidden Beauties All in the Name of Charity

A somewhat revealing calendar entitled 'The Factory Tour' has been produced by the beautiful and liberated staff at Stoke-on-Trent-based H & R Johnson Tiles to raise funds for the Douglas Macmillan Hospice at Home Appeal.

Bearing all before local photographer Andrew Eeley of The Image Factory, scantily clad staff struck a pose in various departments of the leading ceramic manufacturer’s recently completed factory, with the cheeky calendar taking a light hearted look at H&R Johnson’s £35million state of the art manufacturing facilities.

The modern, automated facility, which runs a three-shift system, seven-days-a-week, with all the very latest manufacturing and IT equipment selected to produce H&R Johnson’s successful high performance products, continued production throughout the entire photoshoot, which took place during a weekend in September.

Andrew Adam, Marketing Services Manager for H&R Johnson commented: 'H&R Johnson has maintained a long history of market leadership and high level of knowledge and experience within the ceramic industry since its beginnings in 1901. We may not be as knowledgeable on creating calendars as we are with ceramics but we like to do our bit for charity and this revealing calendar has attracted considerable attention locally.'

This spectacular calendar, printed by Wood Mitchell Printers of Stoke on Trent, was unveiled at a grand Bonfire Extravaganza held on the Ravensdale sports field near the H & R Johnson, Harewood Street factory on 30th October. The calendar is on sale at £4.00 per copy, with all proceeds donated to the Douglas Macmillan Hospice at Home Appeal.

For further information or to purchase a cheeky calendar, contact H&R Johnson Customer Services on 01782 575575.

Jacuzzi UK Raises £2,850 for British Heart Foundation

On Sunday 26th September a team of seven from Jacuzzi UK, UK bathroom manufacturer, took part in the Great North Run to raise money for their corporate charity, the British Heart Foundation.

The team of seven raised £2,850 on the day. All the runners completed the 13.1 miles in less than 3 hours, with the fastest time being run by Peter Hilliard, Marketing Manager, Jacuzzi UK who finished in 1 hour 40 minutes. Other team members were Chris Padgett, Bridget Stack, Lindsey Carter, Lucy Taylor, Emma McKay and Mick Nichols.

Peter Hilliard, Marketing Manager, Jacuzzi UK commented, 'lt was a long day, but great fun and well worth the effort. The atmosphere was brilliant with the crowd encouraging you all the way.'

Tel: 01274 654700
Web: http://www.jacuzziuk.com

Swift Donates £1200 to Hotpoint in Support of Childline

Domestic appliance distributor Swift has presented a cheque for £1200 to Hotpoint, to help its chosen charity ChildLine.

This donation goes a long way towards Hotpoint's target of reaching a massive £50K for the children's charity. This target was set when Hotpoint became ChildLine's main sponsor of its 'Safely to 18' campaign launched earlier this year in recognition of the charity's 18th Birthday.

Tony Farmer from Hotpoint, being handed Swift's ChildLine cheque from Natwest.

Hotpoint has received overwhelming support from both retailers and distributors for ChildLine, and Swift's donation is the biggest to date from one single customer. Swift achieved this figure with the help of fund raising activities which included 20 members of staff taking part in the Stoke City Marathon, plus support from the company's local branch of Natwest Bank who made further donations to the Swift fund.

Swift, based in Stoke on Trent, is dedicated to supplying electrical retailers with not only white goods like Hotpoint, but also a full range of brown goods. Distributing over 250,000 appliances per year, Swift is focused on delivering a high standard of service to its customers.

Malcolm Scott, Commercial Director at Swift comments on the donation; 'We loved the opportunity to get involved with fund raising for ChildLine. Training for a marathon was a great team building project for a very worthy cause. A big thank you to our suppliers, staff and customers, who helped us support this very worthy cause.'

Graham Ball, Commercial Director at Hotpoint says; 'We'd like to say a massive thank you to Swift for the company’s support in our fund raising activities for ChildLine. It's an amazing amount of money Swift has donated, which we know will go a long way to help!'

For further information on Swift's products and services call 01782 441920.
For further information on Hotpoint products call 0870 777 6485 or visit http://www.hotpoint.co.uk

100% Success for Team Roman in the Great North Run

Every member of Team Roman who began the 2004 BUPA Great North Run on 26th September managed to complete the 13.1 mile (21 kilometre) course, raising thousands of pounds from their corporate and personal sponsors for CancerBACUP, Europe's leading cancer information service.

The fastest time for Roman (1 hour 45 minutes) came from Mark Henderson, the company's Engineering & Quality Manager, while a group of 'fast walkers' came home together in 3 hours 05 minutes. For Sandra Bellwood (2 hours 20 minutes), who works on the firm's production line and ran with her husband, this was her tenth Great North Run.

Michael Richards (left) and Rory Edwards of Roman lean on each other after completing the run

Local bus company J&C Coaches kindly provided transport for the runners to and from Tyneside in addition to its sponsorship payment. Each runner's entry fee was paid for by Roman, and CancerBACUP showed its appreciation of its fundraisers' effort by providing a massage station at the end of the run to ease their aching limbs.

'We already have £6000 to pay over to CancerBACUP but we are still collecting our pledges and are pretty confident of hitting our target of £8500' said Loraine Gamblin, Roman's Marketing Manager and team leader for the event. 'This was a tremendous effort by everyone and we are all very grateful to our sponsors for their support.'

CancerBACUP, the charity that will benefit from Team Roman's efforts, provides up-to-date cancer information, practical advice and support for cancer patients, their families and carers.

Tel: 0845 0504 032
Web: http://www.roman-showers.com

Merloni UK Directors Trek Their Stuff for Childline

Merloni Elettrodomestici UK Directors have been doing their bit to raise money for ChildLine this month, with a sponsored trekking expedition in the Scottish Highlands. Merloni UK’s appliance brand Hotpoint, as sponsor of ChildLine’s 18th Birthday Campaign - Safely to 18, has also committed to raising £50,000 for the charity. This trek is just one of many fundraising activities put together by Hotpoint to reach this target.

The challenging 3-day. 53km long trek saw the 13 directors walking through the highlands, struggling up mountainous peaks covered in thick heather. All employees throughout were encouraged to sponsor their director and raise money for ChildLine and a considerable total is expected.

Neil Tunstall, Marketing Director for Merloni UK, commented on the trek; ‘It has been a fantastic experience for us all to complete this challenging 3 day trek, ChildLine is fully worth the blisters it caused!

Pictured Left to Right: Neil Tunstall (Marketing Director). Jonathan Harper (Quality Director), Graham Ball (Commercial Director), Steve Jackson (MIS Director), Trek Leader, Remo Perugini (Purchasing Director), Ian Abernethy (HR Director), Dominic Vertuccio (Distribution Director), Bob Vernon (Manufacturing Director), Nicola Boari (Projects Director), Franco Secchi (Service Director), Charlie Jones (Managing Director Commerical)

Team Roman 'On the Run' for Cancer Support

A strong team from Roman Ltd, the County Durham-based UK specialist in shower enclosures and wet-rooms, is set to raise thousands of £s for the 2004 BUPA Great North Run from Newcastle to South Shields. Donations from Team Roman will go to cancerBACUP, to provide up-to-date cancer information, practical advice and support for cancer patients, their families and carers.

A large number of Roman's workforce will be tackling the 13.1 mile (21 kilometre) course on Sunday 26th September. Roman represents 40 per cent of the cancerBACUP team taking part on the day.

'We have no professional athletes and many are attempting the run for the first time' said Loraine Gamblin, Roman's Marketing Manager and team leader for the event.

'Team Roman has been formed from right across the company and we are all very grateful to the company and our other sponsors. So far we have pledges of over £4000 but we hope to have trebled that by race day. If you'd like to contribute to this very worthy cause please give me a call on 01325 311318.'

Bushboard Supports Childline at BBC Good Homes Show

Bushboard, official supporters of ChildLine, used an innovative design idea to promote the launch of the new Omega Microban® range at this year's BBC Good Homes Show. Students from University College Northampton were commissioned to design a dress made from Bushboard Worktop samples.

BBC Good Homes Show saw the launch of Bushboard's new Omega Microban® range which uses built-in Microban® antibacterial protection to help protect worksurfaces against the growth of bacteria. Not only does the new Omega Microban® range offer peace of mind, but its attractive designs ensure there is a finish to complement any kitchen.

Designed by 2nd year fashion students from the University College Northampton, the dress was made entirely from Bushboard Worktop samples and was modelled at the show to raise money for ChildLine and drive awareness of the new Microban® protection.

Martin Lowe, Business and Development Manager, Bushboard Ltd comments: ‘This was an exciting opportunity to work closely with students from a local university and create a unique promotional activity to raise money for ChildLine. We were extremely pleased with the final result, which is a novel use for the new Omega Microban® collection!’

For further information please contact Bushboard on 01933 232 242 or visit http://www.bushboard.co.uk
For further information on Microban® visit http://www.microban.co.uk
For further information on ChildLine visit http://www.childline.org.uk

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