Tuk-Tuk Tales

Jamie Muir Wood from Capita Symonds’ Procter Street office is currently piloting an autorickshaw - ‘The Gin Express’ - from Pokhara in Nepal to Kochi in Kerala, Southern India (via the Taj Mahal) to raise money for charity.

The rickshaw is painted in the colours of a World War II spitfire (with lemon and lime influence) and the team (Jamie plus two of his friends) are donning flying hats, goggles and jackets (at least whilst in the frozen north).

They have already raised £1,000 for the adventure's nominated charities - Mercy Corps (India) and Maiti Nepal, a Nepalese charity which helps repatriate women trafficked to India

The team are also raising funds for the NACC (The National Association for Colitis and Crohn's Disease) whose work has enabled Jamie to participate...

To make a donation go to http://www.justgiving.com/extragin

Depending on the team’s access to technology during the trip, you may be able to follow their progress at http://rickshawrun10w.theadventurists.com/theginexpress

Marathon Man

Adrian Jones from Capita Architecture’s Cardiff studio beat over 50 runners to win the Brentwood Multilap Marathon recently in a remarkable time of 2.55.16

Not only that, he also won a similar race in the Gower, South Wales.

Both races were off-road and much slower than straight road marathons, involving in varied grade and terrain – from slippery mud slopes to sandy dunes to steps and rocky cliff paths (not to mention jumping over stiles).

View Adrian's report on the Gower race

Well done Adrian!

Into the Wilde

On 14th January 2010 Capita Symonds’ Tom Wilde and Mark Morland will be heading off on an 11 day trip which will see them climbing Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Standing at 5,896m above sea level, Mount Kilimanjaro is the world's highest free standing mountain. The breathable oxygen at the top is less than half the amount than is common at sea level and climbers cover at least 80 kilometres unsupported on their journey to the summit and back.

The pair will be joined by nearly 40 colleagues from Capita Group. Each team member has been asked to raise £5,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support which will hopefully create a massive combined total of £200,000!

A number of fundraising events have been taking place, including collections, raffles, bingo nights and bungy jumps. Tom and Mark have also been training in the Lake District (pictured).

Anybody who wishes to support Tom and Mark in raising money for this great cause can do so via their justgiving sites:

www.justgiving.com/tomwilde

www.justgiving.com/Mark-Morland

Developing Talent with Media4Schools

Our Glamorgan office played a key role in the Media4Schools Awards 2009 recently.

Media4Schools is an education based media training initiative where pupils and their teachers are trained in media production skills & techniques. They are then supported and mentored to produce their own programmes via links between the schools and various local businesses.

Glamorgan's involvement with Media4Schools came through working with them to produce a promotional DVD for Capita Symonds Glamorgan – ‘Capita Glamorgan – 1 Year On’. The video can be seen below.

The 'Media4Schools Awards' are used to highlight and acknowledge how the pupils demonstrated their skills, developed their enterprise awareness and helped to raise the profile of their school within the community. The awards categories are based on curriculum-related topics and regional topics of interest which link in with social and community initiatives in their areas.

The Glamorgan office sponsored the ‘Award for Best Community Film’ which was won by Clydach Vale for their film ‘Coal and Community’. Produced with Tonypandy Community College and Cwm Clydach Communities First, the film looks at the Cambrian Mining disaster of 1965, exploring its effects through interviews with members of the community including survivors and rescuers.

Some festive fun - Shootin Sprouts

Capita Symonds presents...................

Shootin' Sprouts! Our fun festive sprout-flinging game.

It's the office Christmas party and you've been served sprouts! Eugh!

Get rid of those evil greens as quickly as possible - using your colleagues as target-practice.

Challenge your friends and try and get to the top of our leader board

Go shoot some sprouts!

Up, up and away

A £1m transformation of a Blackburn primary school has been unveiled with a balloon race.

Griffin Park Primary has been re-modelled as part of a £15m programme of school improvement works across the region. To celebrate, the school hosted an open day for all staff, past and present, children, parents and governors.

A team from our Blackburn office (Su Sealby, Catherine Cramsie, Duncan Clement, Gavin Lang and Ryan Skehan) was responsible for the overall design, project, program and contract management of the construction works which involved remodelling the interior of the school with a new extension housing an improved entrance, reception, offices, circulation, staff and pupil facilities.

The celebrations started with a balloon race, with a prize for the furthest travelling one, followed by a buffet and tour for visitors.

Head teacher Catherine Grady-Clayton said: "The improvement to the buildings has made an amazing impact on the feel of our school. The staff, the children, the parents all comment on how wonderful it looks, and what a fantastic place it now is to work. It has given us a real buzz to work in such a lovely environment, and we all feel very special and very lucky for being part of Griffin ParkSchool."

Councillor Chris Thayne, executive member for children's services, added: "I am delighted to see the work has now been completed. The buildings now do justice to the quality of learning that takes place within. This investment will have a huge impact on helping children to achieve their potential and have a happy, healthy and safe childhood."

Duncan Clement, building surveying manager from Capita Symonds, who led the design team, said: "We understand the importance of creating exciting spaces in which young people can learn and it is a pleasure to know that we are truly benefiting young people in the area."

Work has been completed as part of Blackburn with Darwen's capital programme for 2009/2010, which includes a range of large and smaller projects to improve and develop schools and other buildings.

Cwmbran Road Safety Music Challenge

Our Cwmbran office organised the final of a local Road Safety Music Challenge recently.

Five local comprehensive schools took part, performing compositions on an Anti Drink-Drive theme.

The winners, which were decided by a panel of three judges - Polly James from Nation Radio, Steve Baker from ROSPA and St John Diston from Gwent Music – were:

First: Lewis School Pengam (£250)
Second: Abertillery Comprehensive (£150)
Third: Nantyglo Comprehensive (£100)

The prizes were presented by Chief Superintendent Kevin Price of Heddlu Gwent Police who said, “The high standard and amount of effort put in by these young people is very impressive. They are promoting an important message. For many years we have tried a range of strategies to get the anti drink drive message over. Music is a powerful medium and these musicians are in a position to influence their peer group, families and the wider community. They are our future and I seek their support in getting over this important message.”

Cllr John Evans, Mayor of Caerphilly CBC said: “The standards shown by the students this evening have been absolutely superb. I am glad that I’m not one of the judges as choosing the winner will be very difficult!”

Helen Davidson, project manager of Music Challenge for Capita Symonds said, “Engaging with this age group can be difficult but music has helped the barriers come down. The depth of understanding within the lyrics is very impressive, I am sure none of the performers and their friends will ever drink and drive now.”

The winning band will have the opportunity to record their song at a commercial recording studio. It will also be used as the basis of an advertisement on Nation Radio to promote the All Wales Anti Drink- Drive Campaign.

Winners Lewis Boys School with Cllr John Evans

Be bright, be seen

The Casualty Reduction team from our Blackburn Partnership office have joined forces with Road Safety GB and Think! to keep local young people safe this winter.

Road Safety Officers from Capita Symonds will be delivering ‘Be bright, be seen’ presentations in schools, community centres and mosques across the borough in a bid to reduce the number of injuries on our roads. Posters will also be distributed and displayed at various venues across the region.

Graham Campbell, Casualty Reduction Team Leader, said: “We have seen a 61% reduction in killed or seriously injured road casualties across the borough since 2007. This is great news but there are still pedestrians who are putting themselves in unnecessary danger. Just a few key things can help reduce the risk of being injured, particularly as the evenings become darker and we are working with children to make sure they are fully equipped to use roads safely. “

Councillor Alan Cottam, executive member for regeneration and environment, added: "As the nights get darker you have to be especially careful about where and when you cross the road. Look for well lit places, so drivers can spot you more easily. This is about keeping the borough's young people safe so I would urge everyone to heed the advice and 'be bright, be seen.' "

Halloween Record Breaker

Mark Hankin from Capita Symonds’ Barrow office attempted to set the world record for the most tarot readings on Halloween. Mark read for 75 people over the 12 hours, raising over £650 for charity.



He says: “We had a great day and there was a real energy and buzz about the place. The midnight reading was done by electric candle and went very well. After the reading we turned off the candles and had quite a ghostly experience, hearing low breaths and Lisa, the girl who won the midnight reading, felt the breath on her face. She also felt ‘someone’ touch her shoulder three times, we both heard footsteps and I had the sleeve of my shirt pulled. To top it off, I saw two orbs (which some say is light reflecting off dust particles, but when there is no light, how can that be?).

I am in the process of collecting all the evidence for the Guinness Book of World Records and will be sending that off soon. I’m already planning a similar event for the Summer Solstice - I may make that a 24 hour reading marathon.”

Sound Design

IET Faraday (from The Institute of Engineering and Technology) is an exciting year-long programme of resources, activities, competitions and events designed to inspire young people about science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).

'Urban Evolution' - this year's theme looks at some of the most innovative structures we live amongst today, as well as what we might have in the future. As part of this theme they have showcased the work undertaken by Capita Symonds' Acoustics team on the O2 in Dublin.

"The Acoustic Engineering team were faced with a daunting challenge – turning the historic Point Theatre in Dublin into a 14,000-seat modern concert venue. The whole site had to be transformed and completely redeveloped from the existing warehouse space into a world-class venue with unparalleled acoustics. The challenge? The building is right in the centre of a residential area – requiring the acoustic team to come up with a solution that means the noise from the newly named O2 Dublin did not exceed its planning licensing limits." Find out more and watch the video on the IET Faraday website