Category Archives: Lifestyle

Workplace chaplaincy tackles key concerns raised by Casino staff study

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A recent study, by Dr Guy Bohane and Professor Yvonne Guerrier, from the University of Roehampton Business School, has highlighted concerns about young people’s vulnerability to gambling addiction by participating in casino gambling. In addition, looking at those who work in the casino industry, the study also raises concerns about the impact of unsociable shifts; work/life balance; quality and quantity of the staff’s social life, and the ‘normalising of gambling over extended periods’.

 

The study, commissioned by the Southlands Methodist Trust, looked at the social impacts of a UK local, provincial casino – in Luton – on key stakeholder groups. It examined stakeholders’ perceptions and attitudes to casino gambling, especially in the era following the introduction of the Gambling Act 2005.

 

In general, casino staff saw their role as ‘managing the customer experience’ and agreed that this was challenging to achieve through shifts lasting many hours, while the casino is open around the clock. Moreover, they acknowledged that they were paid to manage their own emotions for the benefit of the customer – especially where these customers consumed alcohol and/or were ‘problem gamblers’.

 

Some staff explained that the introduction of 24 hour opening, while regularising shifts, made it difficult for them to socialise outside of work and maintain friends who weren’t work colleagues too. Nonetheless, they viewed the casino as highly successful both as a venue and for Luton economy. None of them considered that casino gambling had a major effect on the needy and those at risk within the community, such as those with existing debt problems.

Commenting on the study’s findings, the Rev Jenny Spouge, chaplain to the Casino in Luton, said: “While working in a casino – especially one that’s open 24 hours a day – provides a number of challenges for the staff, they also have to cope with all the other pressures and problems that affect anyone in the workplace. This includes relationship and family issues, along with money worries and coping with ‘officialdom’.

 

“It’s a privilege to be able to offer words of advice and comfort, as well as more practical help to these people as they experience the ups and downs of life,” added Jenny, who is looking for more volunteer chaplains to work a couple of hours a week to provide more cover for the 24/7 Casino. For more details of these opportunities, contact Workplace Matters (WM).

 

Jenny is chaplain to the casino under the auspices of WM, a charity which has over 50 years’ experience of taking Christian values into the workplace, including providing chaplaincy to a wide range of organisations within the private, not-for-profit and public sectors, For more than four years – at the invitation of The Rank Group, which owns the Luton casino – Jenny has been following the principles of WM, providing expertise in pastoral and spiritual care in the workplace to anyone, regardless of faith or gender.

 

WM’s Chairman, Alan Harpham, recognises that faith is entwined with every aspect of community and working life. He commented: “I believe chaplaincy’s basic principle is to provide an independent and confidential ‘listening ear’, encouragement and mutual support to all.

 

“Some people are now at least two generations from having any first-hand church experience. A regular encounter with a WM chaplain may be their only experience of ‘church’’ and the care Christians try to provide.”

 

Dorothy Thornhill, the elected Mayor of Watford and WM’s Vice Chair, added: “Chaplaincy is the church’s tangible presence in the workplace – bringing closer to God the 60% or so of the population who say they ‘believe’ but don’t attend church.”

 

Workplace Matters (WM) is an ecumenical charity which takes Christian values into the workplace. Among its chief activities is supplying workplace chaplaincy. Workplace chaplaincy provides expertise in pastoral and spiritual care in the workplace regardless of faith or gender to all employees. The basic principle of chaplaincy is to provide an independent and confidential “listening ear” encouragement and mutual support to all employees. It is a unique personal level of support that is impossible to get anywhere else. WM networks with a range of faith groups and networks and recognises that faith is deeply entwined with every aspect of community and working life.

Rats’ tales

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According to The Mirror – undoubtedly an acknowledged authority on the subject – there are 3.1 million rats in British cities. That means that, typically, city dwellers are never further away from a rat than 164 feet. This substantially extends humans’ zone of personal space, where rats are concerned, from the commonly held but now erroneous belief that humans are never further than six feet from a rat.

 

However, this potentially good news needs to be juxtaposed with a recent report in the Daily Mail that ‘thinking outside the box’ and ‘going forward’ (as in ‘we must consider our sales strategy going forward’) have been voted the most hated examples of current management speak. Apparently, ‘let’s touch base’ came third in the poll of 2,000 managers.

 

The survey found that such jargon is used in two-thirds of offices – although some 25 per cent of managers consider it a ‘pointless irritation’. Nonetheless, they continue to indulge in this pointless and pretentious pointless persiflage – no doubt under peer pressure and with the justification that these phrases are in common usage.

 

At least you know where you are with a real rat.

Time for a quick advert: Phelia boost to Music for Christian Aid

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Marshalswick Baptist Free Church, in Sherwood Avenue, St Albans, is – once again – the venue for St Albans Music Club’s annual concert to raise funds for the charity, Christian Aid. The concert takes place at the church from 7.30pm on Saturday 11th May.

 

St Albans’ recent singing sensation, Phelia – also known as The Singing Mums – make their Music Club debut in this concert, singing alongside Angharad Little (mezzo soprano), Roy Butlin (bass-baritone) and the tenor, Robert Little. Other performers include Valerie Harden (trumpet), Rachel Flint (cello), John Falk, Mark Smith and Mark Slater (piano).

 

The concert’s wide-ranging programme of popular pieces includes items by Giuseppe Verdi and Benjamin Britten — to commemorate the 200th and 100th anniversaries of the birth of these composers respectively.

 

Admission to the concert is free but there will be a retiring collection for the work of Christian Aid. Please come along if you can.

Technology alters bedroom activities

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According to a survey of 1,000 commuters in London, carried out by Infosecurity Europe, 29% of people look at emails – on computers or smartphones – and catch up on work while they’re in bed, especially if they can’t sleep. Apparently, 15% of them do this at the same time as their partner is doing exactly the same thing.

 

Three quarters of those who work in bed admit to spending more than 30 minutes a day, (three and half hours a week) doing it – and 22% spend more than two hours a day working in bed, which amounts to 14 hours a week.  

 

When people can’t sleep, the most popular activity is to watch TV (23%), followed by reading a book (20%), or going online (17%) – with ten per cent turning to social media or checking emails. Having a cup of tea is the least popular option.

 

When asked about the first thing they do when they wake up in the morning, 32% of people said they check their phone for messages. Only six per cent opted for kissing their partner. Thankfully, from a hygiene point of view, brushing teeth (19%) ranks ahead of checking emails (14%).

 

Technology seems to be having a major impact on how we interact with each other both professionally and personally – including how we don’t interact with our partners in the bedroom (or at least not until after we’ve checked with the technology). Since people admit to checking their phone messages and emails before – at the very least – kissing their partner, does the development of mobile technology mean that romance (in the bedroom, anyway) is dead and that smartphones and the internet now dominate our lives?

Ten characteristics of a great leader

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According to ‘TEN – the Home of Leadership’, it’s easy to spot a great leader but much harder to be one. Leadership, it says, is about taking people with you on a journey with a common goal. Effective leaders are good at:

  1. Learning
  2. Strategy
  3. Creativity
  4. Goals
  5. Time
  6. Emotions
  7. Motivation
  8. Change
  9. Communication
  10. Responsibility

 

Margaret Thatcher - maybe a 'two out of ten leader'?

Comment: No wonder it’s difficult to be a great leader. As Margaret Thatcher once said, you can do two – but never three or more – things extremely well simultaneously. And, while it’s well known that women can successfully multitask, it’s asking a lot for men to be able to do that too. Since most would-be leaders in any walk of life are male, it’s incredible that any of them can be accomplished in ten things at once. This only serves to prove the point that it’s easy to spot a great leader but much harder to be one.

Book Review (number 5) : Learning a Living

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Valerie Hannon, Sarah Gillinson and Leonie Shanks

Published by: Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing

ISBN: 978-99921-95-55-0

 

‘Learning’ is not a topic that has attracted many ‘coffee table books’ but Learning a Living fits the category perfectly. Beautifully illustrated with photographs by Reza Deghati, the book explores ways to rebuild the relationship between education and the world of work. Drawing on global lessons, the book – an initiative from The World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) – addresses the issue of creating the ‘right’ employees by examining the purpose of education and its ideal relationship with growing, sustainable and successful economies.

 

There is little doubt that, at present, the worlds of education and world are not well connected. Businesses struggle to fill vacancies – yet there is unemployment and the numbers of recent graduates are higher than ever. With societies around the world facing increasing challenges, the education system doesn’t appear to be producing the right numbers of people with the right skills to overcome these challenges.

 

Always upbeat and optimistic, Learning a Living advocates a way of improving the link between education and work – by getting rid of traditional academic and vocational divides and making education everyone’s business. It suggests ways to not just produce productive employees but also motivate them to ‘shape the future and make a difference’.

 

Using statistics, personal stories, 15 case studies and – of course – photographs from around the world, the book identifies initiatives, intending them to inspire others to apply their lessons.

 

In the unlikely event that readers are unaffected by the book’s clear and concise arguments, they should be impressed by the stunning photography that accompanies them. Learning a Living deserves to grace many a coffee table – in both the academic and business worlds. It’s probably too much to expect the sanity that it propounds to be widely acclaimed and accepted in practice – but many educationalists are visionaries and some businesspeople make visions come true. Maybe this book will bring some of them together.

 

By Bob Little

 

 

Celebrating Movember and other charitable causes

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Having pledged to give 30 per cent of its business turnover in one, nominated, day to the Milton Keynes-based charity, Medical Detection Dogs, Waste King – the specialist collections, clearance and recycling company – has recently handed over a cheque for £350.

 

Medical Detection Dogs trains dogs to help people with life threatening health conditions, giving these people greater independence and a higher quality of life. Having been taught to identify the odour changes that are associated with certain medical events, the dogs alert their ‘owners’; bring any necessary medical supplies such as glucose and blood testing kits, and get help if necessary.

 

Andy Cattigan, Waste King’s operations director, commented: “Of course, this pledge is in addition to the company’s continuing practical and monetary support for other charities.”

 

That practical and monetary support has included raising over £300 so far for ‘Movember’, as staff members have grown and groomed moustaches throughout the month in order to raise money for the fight against prostate and testicular cancer, along with other men’s health issues.

 

“All of Waste King’s ‘Mo Bros’, as they’re known, began the month with a clean-shaven face and, ever since then, they’ve been encouraging their moustaches to grow,” said the company’s managing director, Glenn Currie. “In recent days, there’s also been some grooming and trimming of these burgeoning appendages. I’m sure some of the team won’t want to shave their moustaches off when the end of the month arrives.”

A recently-moustachioed Andy Cattigan, Waste King’s operations director.

 

Movember began in Australia, in 2003, to increase the public’s awareness of prostate cancer, and since then over 1.1m people have taken part.

 

Currie explained: “These charitable activities and donations are just part of Waste King’s on-going corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy. We’re pleased to be able to give something back to the local and wider community.”

 

Comment: Supporting a good cause is always worthwhile – even if you do end up looking like one of The Village People for a few weeks.

Waste King rescues threatened snakes

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Waste King's Maurice Foley with the two rescued grass snakes.

Waste King, the specialist collections, clearance and recycling company, is becoming used to rescuing distressed livestock as part of its day-to-day activities. It has now added two grass snakes to its list which began, in August 2011, with ‘Colin’ a Giant African Land Snail.

 

In the last few weeks, while helping a Watford-based customer clear garden rubbish, Waste King’s operatives came across two grass snakes – which had chosen to hibernate in the grass clippings and leaves that were being removed. Not wishing to force the snakes to face the winter’s chill without a cosy home in which to hibernate, Waste King carefully collected the snakes. They are now being cared for in a suitable garden in the locality which is ‘grass snake friendly’.

 

“It’s great that this story has a happy ending,” said Waste King’s operations director, Andy Cattigan. “It seems that, in addition to being collections, clearance and recycling specialists, Waste King is also developing a specialism in helping to safeguard various creatures’ futures. It’s all part of a day’s work for our Environment Agency-licensed staff.”

 

The grass snake (Natrix natrix), sometimes called the ringed snake or water snake, is a Eurasian non-venomous snake. It is often found near water and feeds almost exclusively on amphibians.

 

Reaching nearly two metres in length, grass snakes are the UK’s largest reptile and our only snake which lays eggs. A grass snake’s speed and wariness makes it incredibly difficult to spot but, once cornered, it is one of the few animals that play dead as a defence against predators. If this ploy fails, a foul-smelling substance from the anus and repeated head strikes are employed to aid the escape. Grass snakes are active predators themselves of frogs, toads, fish, small mammals and birds. Common and widespread in Europe, grass snakes are usually to be found near water where there is plenty of shelter and warm morning sunshine in which to bask. They hibernate during the cooler winter months.

 

Waste King’s managing director, Glenn Currie, explained: “In August last year, one of our customers was moving to the USA and so had to get rid of her pet Giant African Land Snail. We were helping her dispose of her unwanted possessions prior to the move and she asked us to take the snail as well.”

 

Not wishing to see a repeat of the ‘cat in a green wheelie bin’ story which had hit the headlines some time previously, Waste King operatives took pity on the giant mollusc. They brought it back to Waste King’s Hemel Hempstead headquarters and named it ‘Colin’. Then, having read about Colin – in a local newspaper – Sophie Dowling, a teacher at St Cuthbert Mayne School, in Hemel Hempstead, asked if her school could ‘borrow’ the snail to help the children in her class study habitats and learn about taking care of the environment including learning how to take care of other creatures. Waste King agreed and Colin is now a much loved character at the school.

 

Comment: Snakes and snails may not be what Waste King’s founders had in mind when they began their business to ‘do something positive for the environment’ but it does illustrate the inter-dependence of life forms on this planet. It also emphasises the importance of caring for the environment so that everyone and everything benefits.

Overwhelmed, overwired – and over-sold

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‘If feeling exhausted, stressed and overwhelmed has become the norm, you are probably overwired. Being overwired means being overwhelmed, often with serious consequences to your health and well-being’.

 

So says the marketing material for an e-book called ‘8 Ways to Rewire Your Life and Revamp Your Productivity’. The e-book sets out eight ways you can rewire yourself to work smarter, live better and be more productive. It includes ways to boost your productivity; explaining why overwhelmed employees are an expensive drain on their employers, and how the ‘right technology’ can help relieve stress.

 

Comment: The only problem is that, if you’re ‘overwired’ and overwhelmed by the stresses of life, having to go through the process of buying – and then devote the time to read – an e-book is only going to make things worse.

 

At least, it will in the short term – and, as the economist, Maynard Keynes, famously once said, ‘In the long term, we’re all dead.’ So becoming ‘underwired’ (is that a bit like a bra, I wonder) rather than overwired can only be a short term – if undeniably unpleasant – phenomenon anyway. Perhaps it’s simpler to ‘grin and bear it’ or even ‘keep calm and carry on’.

Dead wealthy

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It seems that even being dead can’t stop you from making a living. According to http://www.askten.co.uk/resources/10s/top-10-earning-dead-celebrities#.UKDRSWfnPLc Forbes looked at the earnings of deceased celebrities’ estates for the 12 months ending in October 2012. The ten biggest winners are:

1. Elizabeth Taylor (died 2011): $210m. A sale of the film star’s jewellery and artwork raised $184m last year.

Top dead wealthy.

2. Michael Jackson (d. 2009): $145m. The singer earned more last year than any living musician. Money comes from his estate’s ownership of the rights to his own songs and those of many other artists.

3. Elvis Presley (d. 1977): $55m. Visits to the King’s Graceland estate were up last year due to unseasonably warm weather.

4. Charles Schulz (d. 2000): $37m. The Charlie Brown cartoonist’s estate makes money from licensing deals for his Peanuts characters.

5. Bob Marley (d. 1981): $17m. Album sales and product branding (including a line of beverages) have helped fill the reggae singer’s coffers.

6. John Lennon (d. 1980): $12m. The ex-Beatle’s estate shares in the profits from the group’s on-going music sales, and also profits from licensing deals.

7. Marilyn Monroe (d. 1962): $10m. The actress’s estate will see its earnings boosted by the licensing of her name to products including spas and cafés.

8. Albert Einstein (d. 1955): $10m. As with Marilyn Monroe, the scientist’s earnings come largely from the licensing of his image for branding purposes.

9. Theodor Geisel (d. 1991): $9m. The Dr Seuss author’s estate makes money from book sales and film rights.

10. Steve McQueen (d.1980): $8m. Image rights – from brands keen to acquire McQueen’s mystique – account for the majority of the actor’s earnings.

 

Comment: You can’t take it with you – but that’s obviously no barrier to you continuing to make it. Maybe, as Shakespeare said – via Mark Anthony in ‘Julius Caesar’: ‘The evil that men do lives after them. The good is oft interred with their bones…’