When I started thinking about BOMAC’s Corporate Social responsibility Plan last year, I wanted to find a charity that we could support. In my previous role at Virgin Media Business we actively encouraged all staff to complete at least one volunteering day and it was always a great way to motivate teams and get out and have a team building day whilst, at the same time, contributing to a worthy cause.
With this in mind I thought about how we could do something similar at BOMAC and after meeting with Lorna Marshall, who leads Knowsley Chamber’s Working Well Initiative, she put me in touch with Claire Kelly from the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation as they have an event called Roy’s Runners which I thought may be something we could get involved in, https://www.roycastle.org/events/roys-runners/
Just as I was about to meet up with Claire to find out more about the charity and the Roy’s Runners event, my dad’s health took a turn for the worst. Dad had been battling Kidney Cancer for nearly three years and sadly his treatment was no longer working and he was becoming sicker and weaker by the day. I explained to Claire the situation and she was just so supportive and understanding having lost her dad to Lung Cancer 5 years ago. Sadly my dad passed away last September and so it wasn’t until the end of November when I finally met with Claire at Knowsley Chamber’s Flash Networking event where she was guest speaker. We arranged for Claire to come to our Knowsley manufacturing site in the New Year so we could discuss how we could support the charity.
Claire immediately offered to come and deliver a lung health awareness workshop to the team. As a responsible employer we want to raise awareness among the team about lung health, the importance of exercise, healthy eating, breathing exercises and wearing the personal protection equipment provided but also to sign post them on where to go for help if they have any health concerns.
Claire delivered the workshop to the team yesterday and I think everyone took something away from it that will benefit them in the future. Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation have a volunteer guide for 2020 https://www.roycastle.org/get-involved/volunteer-for-us/ which includes sponsored events such as running, swimming, abseiling, and I will now be putting together a calendar of events for the team to get involved in.
Whilst my father passed away from Kidney Cancer I have chosen to support Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation because of the support I have received from Claire. Before I met her I felt like I knew her already because of the kind messages she had sent me during and after my dad’s passing. It just shows that it is people that make a difference to an organisation, the main reason why people choose to do business with an organisation is usually because of the relationship they have with the people who work for that organisation, which is why it is so important to look after your team. In the words of Richard Branson ‘If you look after your staff well, they will look after your customers. Simple’
