Sky’s the limit as project with Samaritans benefits the local community
Date: Thursday 18th June
2009
Contact: Claire
Duncan
Phone: +44 (0)20 8394
8345
Email: Out of hours press phone: +44
(0)7943 809162
Engineers from British Sky Broadcasting have
spent the last week working with the Enfield, Haringey and Barnet
branch of Samaritans renovating Shaftesbury Hall in Bounds Green,
North London.
The project is part of the ‘Bigger Picture’
program which allows Sky employees to make a positive contribution
to their local community by allowing them two paid working days
each year to dedicate to voluntary work.
Sky TV engineers from the South region
selected to help emotional support charity Samaritans.
Team Manager Christo Pavlibeyi said “We chose
Samaritans because the work they do within the community is vital
in supporting individuals of all ages who require emotional
support. They provide a 24-hour service, where people can get
support for any kind of problem – from relationship difficulties to
exam stress and job worries. Samaritans is a unique charity.”
Enfield, Haringey and Barnet Samaritans have
owned Shaftesbury Hall since 1977 but have not had the funds or
resources to renovate the tin tabernacle which forms part of the
heritage of the Bounds Green area and dates back to the 1880s.
Work completed by Sky employees and Samaritans
volunteers during the week-long project included fence repairs,
disposing of old furniture and equipment, sound system repairs,
removing an internal partition (which hadn't been opened for 25
years), clearing the garden, and internal and external work on the
walls including cleaning, sanding and painting them. The renovation
of Shaftesbury Hall will provide some much-needed space for
Enfield, Haringey and Barnet Samaritans to hold recruitment,
training and fundraising events.
Darren Bacchus, a Sky employee involved in the
project said: “In the time we have spent working with Samaritans we
have learnt a lot about the charity and the role it plays both
locally and nationally. The renovation project has allowed us to
develop new skills, build relationships with local people and give
something back to the community.”
Lindsay West, Publicity Officer for Enfield,
Haringey and Barnet Samaritans said: “I would like to say a huge
thank you to all the Sky engineers who have worked so hard to make
Shaftesbury Hall fully functional again – without their help, this
project would not have been possible. The last week has been
fantastic for raising awareness of Samaritans in the local
community – we have had a resident walk past and make an enquiry
about volunteering, and have also spoken to a lady who would like
to use the hall for community events. The renovated hall could be a
good income stream for the branch and will help with our
fundraising.”
If you are interested in volunteering
opportunities at Enfield, Haringey and Barnet Samaritans please
call 020 8889 6888 or email ehb@samaritans.org
For more information on Sky’s Bigger
Picture program go to www.sky.com/biggerpicture
-ends-
Notes to editors
Samaritans
It is the aim of Samaritans
to make emotional health a mainstream issue. Samaritans'
vision is for a society where fewer people die by suicide because
people are able to share feelings of emotional distress openly
without fear of being judged. Samaritans believes that
offering people the opportunity to be listened to in confidence,
and accepted without prejudice, can alleviate despair and suicidal
feelings.
Samaritans is a registered charity, founded in
1953, which offers 24-hour confidential emotional support to anyone
in emotional distress. The service is offered by 16,534
trained volunteers and is entirely dependent on voluntary
support. Across the UK, you can call Samaritans on 08457 90
90 90 (1850 60 90 90 in the Republic of Ireland) email jo@samaritans.org, write to
Samaritans at Chris, PO Box 9090, Stirling, FK8 2SA, or if you are
deaf or hard of hearing use the single national minicom number
08457 90 91 92. Log on to www.samaritans.org for more information.
Calls from BT will be charged at up to 2 pence per minute at all
times. A call set-up fee of 7 pence applies to calls from
residential lines. Mobile and other providers' charges may
vary.
Sky and The Bigger
Picture
Sky started 20 years ago with a belief that
people deserved better choice. That founding principle stands just
as much today as it did then. At Sky we believe in better. This
means we constantly strive to raise the bar on behalf of our
customers in the face of fast-changing commercial, political and
social environments. Sky is a valued part of everyday life in the
homes of more than one in three families in the UK & Ireland.
For us, that creates a responsibility and an opportunity to truly
make a difference. It means we embrace what we call ‘the bigger
picture’, a campaign that allows us to manage our contribution to
society and challenges us to positively impact our customers on the
issues we know they care about.
The Bigger Picture is an
ethos that encapsulates Sky’s commitment to consistently go beyond
the traditional boundaries of business, meaning that Sky still
delivers on the nuts and bolts of business excellence: great
service; biggest choice; customer and employee satisfaction, but
the Bigger Picture takes us further. It is about creating a
partnership with our customers, aiming to inspire action and have
an impact in three key areas: creating a healthy environment;
opening up the arts to more people; and encouraging participation
in sport to inspire young people to fulfill their potential. It is
an attitude completely divorced from an age where businesses acted
in silos, to one where we believe Sky will prosper from a dialogue
with customers, built on transparency and trust.