Bupa Community Connections

leahsmith10 — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:15:49 +0000

Brain Raiders Quiz

Bring your friends and colleagues together for a social winter warm-up and help change young lives in the UK with our Brain Raiders Quiz this March. We have everything you need to host the perfect quiz, and we’ve even asked our Celebrity Ambassadors to compile the questions. All of the questions, as well as a ‘How to’ guide are available to download on our website at www.princes-trust.org.uk/brainraiders

For any more information, please contact Leah.smith@princes-trust.org.uk

Calling all Bupa Volunteers!

leahsmith10 — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:46:57 +0000

It’s amazing what you can achieve with support. Please volunteer to give up just one day of your time and share your skills with vulnerable and disadvantaged young people. You can make a real impact and support them to take positive steps towards a brighter future.

We are looking for volunteers right now to join us for one day, to help young people prepare a CV and learn interview skills, or to support them in fining a work placement to gain some work experience. By giving up just one day of your time, plus 1-2 hours of preparation, you really can make a huge difference to a young life. It’s a great experience for you too!

Volunteer June Simpson, recently delivered her first workshop for The Trust: “I don’t have a lot of experience in this area and was unaware of the difficulties some young people have getting into the job market. It made me appreciate the skills I have and what myself and my colleagues had to offer. I think the participants gained confidence in what they have to offer organisations and learnt to believe in their capabilities. I would certainly volunteer again with The Princes Trust.”

The Prince’s Trust is a national charity, and our volunteers help to make our work possible all over the country. If you think you can help please register at www.princes-trust.org.uk/beexceptional to see when and where your nearest volunteering opportunities are happening. Your support really does make a difference.

My name is Alika. I am 18 years old. At the age of 10 I moved from my home country of Nigeria to London with my family. I really began to struggle at school; the language barrier was a real problem and I was often the target of bullies because of this. It was at this time that I experienced the world of crime first hand and began to realise that I needed to break free of this life.

The people at The Prince’s Trust really helped me to build up self-esteem and get my life back on track, giving me the opportunity to meet employees from local businesses who could give me advice on my CV and finding a work placement.

Being able to speak with someone who has first-hand experience of holding down a job was so useful for me. It made me realise I have the potential to have my own job and realise my own dreams – I just didn’t know how before. The interview skills I learnt were also really valuable and soon after the training I had a real life interview for an apprenticeship and got a place!

If you have any problems registering at all, or if you would like to find out more ways of getting involved with The Prince’s Trust, please contact Leah.smith@princes-trust.org.uk

A great start to 2010…

siobhandrane — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 11:11:03 +0000

Bupa care homes across the UK have taken part in fundraising events in support of Beating Bowel Cancer and the British Heart Foundation. Homes helped to raise money for these worthwhile causes by holding a whole host of events including non-uniform days, cake sales, raffles and aerobic sessions.

Juliana Miles, home manager of Bupa’s Harts House Nursing Home in Essex, said: “We decided to support the Red for Heart campaign because we wanted to do something fun to support the British Heart Foundation’s vital work. We feel this campaign is such a worthy cause as many of our residents and family members suffer from heart related diseases. It is our way of giving something back.”

Meanwhile at the central support office in Leeds, staff were invited to join Care Services’ Medical Director, Dr Clive Bowman, in a discussion about keeping a healthy heart. Everyone took advantage of Clive’s wealth of knowledge and the question and answer session was a huge success and helped to raise the awareness of the UK’s biggest killer. Sue Green from the British Heart Foundation visited the Leeds office and was available over lunchtime to speak to people while handing out information leaflets, raffle tickets were sold and everyone wore it red! Once matched by Community Connections, these activities helped to raise almost £1000!

Well done to all of those care homes who have held fundraising events. We’re still waiting to hear the total amount raised and a huge well done to the fundraising committee who organised a great day in Bridge House…what a great start for 2010!

Tricky times

Richard the Rower — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:22:38 +0000

Rich…
Times are tough, the pressure of poor weather and other external factors have forced the blog onto the back burner for a few days, apologies.
Personally, I have been finding it very tough and a spell on the para-anchor last night i.e. stopped and slipping backwards, doesn’t help.

Still we must look forward to what weather mother nature will deal us next and cope with that on a day by day basis. Today a strong Southerly, trying to push us North…later today this is forecast to go head on i.e. stopping us again. We push on.

When I step off of the boat in x days/weeks there will be moments which the mind may choose to blank out, or to just fuzz over the hardship…the last couple of days will be in that category. We need to finish this task and hopefully one day I will be able to look back with a smile on my face…at the moment I need that energy for rowing

For all those at home, may they be family/friends/colleagues, please keep the emails coming. Although we continue to have the occasional problem with comms i.e. missing mails, blogs lost in transit, we value our contact with you. This is especially true when our minds deviate from the task in hand. To feel alone at sea is to be in the most beautiful wild and exciting place, but we are powerless to influence much beyond the speed at which we row…a very humbling experience. It’s a frightening one..as I am from the blackberry generation that are used to instant answers and instant data, this challenge removes that and strips life back to basics.
Still…I hear the trade winds might start blowing one day soon!

Quiet day of annoyance

Richard the Rower — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 21:28:41 +0000

Rich
We had a terrible cross wind today..which slowed us down to a snails pace and has tired us out…hoping for a good night as the winds have eased and the rowing is good. We’ll be back on form tomorrow, I promise

So that’s what I call music, Atlantic Mix

Richard the Rower — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:31:11 +0000

Rich…
To provide a bit more focus to the night sessions the iPod came out again last night, but with one notable difference. Instead of the trusty white apple iPod earphones, I swapped them out for a pair of seinheisser earphones that Iain @Bupa had bought me as a going away present. I’d been holding these back as the environment on the boat destroys anything that isn’t salt/water/nuclear weapon proof, so these were for a special occasion. I’ve never been a tech head for stereo equipment, but think I could be converted…the difference was staggering, it was like listening to a new music collection Big thanks to Iain, you made a tought night row into a gem (even got some good speeds on the boat). So for all you clones out there with your white headphones…burn them is my rallying cry…get a good pair of headphones….mark my words, the rebellion started here

Pete, I’ve not been following your more unusual suggestions for tracks to listen to last night was Black Eyed Peas, Counting Crows, Last Shadow Puppets, Kings of Leon….usual atlantic rowing fodder.

950 miles to go now..another TRU has been checked off, great to be in triple digits (it would now fit on our repeater screen on deck). So just a question of grinding out the miles. 19 TRUs to go.

Feeling Hot Hot Hot and the bangers are set off

Richard the Rower — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 21:31:58 +0000

steve
Rowed into another sunset
“hot, hot, hot, very still for next few days, tough going” This is our weather message from our woodvale duty officer, gosh, I thought we had been having a bit too easy lately..!!!!.
I don’t mean to sound ungrateful but I cant remember the last free mileage we had it was such a long time ago, still we are now acclimatised to the rigours of belting hot days and pounding out the miles on the oars, hour after hour, day after day, night afte night. Simply there is no option. There is always a glimmer of hope that the forecast may be wrong, especially as the one single message (i do believe) goes to the whole of the fleet of rowers which is now divided by several hundred miles and weather is most likely to vary within that distance.

Kev the lovely little sea bird visits daiily and Marina is still locked away in the brigg for safety reasons….
Swam again today, but for no real reason other than to prevent expiring in the heat of the day.. I fell asleep in the cabin and woke with heat exhaustion.. (again) the cabin is unbearably hot so the only place left to go is the deck in full sun. Tan is coming on a treat,,,

Richard…
So with all the combined positivity of a walk in the rain on Bognor Pier, I set off the big confetti banger that we had on the boat to celebrate being only 1000miles from Antigua. As the confetti shot off into the air it did actually start to change my mood. The going has been tough and we have been loathed to celebrate anything as the next day the weather will again step in and ruin it for us. Making this one gesture started me thinking that I should snap out of it and start to enjoy the experience a little more…I am by nature a very positive person and will again be this happy chap. So what if we have to row hard, so what if the weather is hot, so what if we’re not a quick as we planned, so what, so what, so what…all too soon I will be sat on the cold train to Waterloo with all the other office-types going to my job in town and this will have passed into memory (and I will miss it I’m sure, in a perverse way). I’ve been given a golden chance to make positive change through the charity money we raise and through getting the chance to reflect on my own life…I’m lucky..so will stop moanoing

We’ve just talked to Pendovy Swift on the VHF, they are 1.5 miles away from us, great to hear another human voice on the radio. They like us are well, but frustrated. Was quite exciting to get the AIS alarm triggering a potential collison…I don’t think you could ever collide two row boats even if you tried in the middl of the Atlantic

On to night shift soon…hope for a friendly moon and no wind changes (as these mess with your mind).

Whether the weather is worthwhile

Richard the Rower — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 20:29:04 +0000

steve
The sky is blue
A big blow when you get a forecast 2/3 days ago saying winds 10 -15 knots in favourable diection only to experience fluky winds in wrong direction for day and half and the the next forecast is for light winds for next five days,, Accuracy or rather inaccuray of weather forecasting proving to be THE most frustrating part of this challenge so far,, Still perhaps we should be grateful they are in the right direction,, oooops,,shouldn’t think like that they may change the forecast any second…

Rich….
Arrggghhhh…when will nature learn that i’ve got a family waiting, a job to return to and a million other things to do than sit on a boat in the middle of an ocean!
We’ll keep ourselves busy with this rowing lark until the winds pick up again…no plans can be made for finish times…it appears as if the Atlantic likes us all so much it wants to play a little longer

The third fastest time across the fleet

Richard the Rower — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 20:34:19 +0000

Steve….The sun is hot
It is only the cloud cover today that has made any progress towards our target today possible, without which so much more mental and physical effort would have needed to achieve even a fraction of the dimished speed we have made.

The sea state is relatively flat and calm and the density of algae or plankton is easily visible and offers no free pass through,, each stroke we take on the oars requires huge effort and determination. Had the sun been beating down on us on this day, I am sure, distance made good would have been at least halved.

Frustratingly, earlier in the week we were forecast favourable winds, low and behold (and not the first time) a day later the forecast changes.. To get your hopes up in this environment is almost futile. One can only hope for better weather to come…..

Richard….

Right, it’s positive time..yesterday, we..the humble No Fear posted the third fastest time across the fleet. For this we need to be very proud as we’re not the most high tech boat, we’re not the biggest chaps and we have to admit to doing the challenge on a budget. This makes you realise that the lesser teams can occasionally hog a little of the limelight Thanks for those that recognised this achievement and it was made from sweat and tears…not from the free speed of a favourable wind..all the sweeter.

Another positive is that we are 45 miles away from dipping under the 1000 mark (Cath, you are quite right, can almost smell those 3 digits of 999 on the GPS readout). This makes us 20 TRUs away from our goal and a cold beer on the beach. It’s now down to us to hit our daily targets and for the wind/waves to fill in behind us to give us a helping hand…the end is in sight (the wave gods have already had a small sacrifice tonight, a piece of my shepherds pie!)

Just another scorcher

Richard the Rower — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 21:17:05 +0000

The 10-15 knot winds from the ENE didn’t really materialise today…what a shocker you all say So we sat on the oars and hauled the boat though the water with very little help from mother nature. We’re now starting to pull together steady scores and these will start to rise over the next few weeks. They do say thay the final third of the race flies by quicker (well Cath, you said that I believe) as the boats get lighter (food eaten) and the crews push for the line.

Most of the focus is now on the rowing and things that at home would be considered a luxury are essentials here…having an afternoon snooze, scoffing chocolate are all part of the routine for this pair of performance athletes (OK, exaggerated here a little). We’ve little time for fishing and talking to Kevin the seabird…but we do have the occasional new visitor…I’ve got some video footage of an ominous black shape that we saw from the back of the boat…it will be analysed further when I get home, but looked pretty mean to me

We’re told that we’ve got reasonable weather for the next 10ish days, which will allow us to push on to the final third of the race…but not counting any chickens yet.

Physically we are both well, but my beer belly is nearly gone, and for those at Bupa, they realise the effort it took to get that…the number of fried breakfasts I had to eat from the Canteen…all part of the training!

steve.
The sun has gone down…..