Category Archives: Miscellaneous

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.

Private Eye notices Silver Fox

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The beady gaze of the celebrated satirical magazine, Private Eye noticed Silver Fox’s Margaret Thatcher-press release. Over the years, Private Eye has taken a great deal of interest in Margaret Thatcher and produced a ‘souvenir’ issue (Private Eye number 1338) to mark her death.

 

In the next edition (number 1339, dated 3rd to 16th May), page 16 carried the following report:

 

‘The funeral of Baroness Thatcher, the UK’s first female prime minister, which takes place on Wednesday 17th April at St Paul’s Cathedral, London, will be of special significance for those who have personal memories of her. Among those is Nick Michaelson, CEO of Silver Fox, the UK manufacturer of high performance labelling solutions. He met Margaret Thatcher when, as prime minister, she opened the Offshore Europe ’85 exhibition and conference on Aberdeen in September 1985…

 

Margaret Thatcher meets Silver Fox's Nick Michaelson in Aberdeen in 1985.

“Understandably, we haven’t been invited to her funeral,’ [Michaelson] added. ‘Instead, we’ll be continuing our work with engineers across the globe helping them turn time into profit utilising our world leading solutions, designed, developed and made by us here in the UK.”’ – Press release by labelling form Silver Fox Ltd, 16 April.

 

It also reproduced an advertisement for the Avenue Tennis Club, published in the Hendon and Finchley Times, which also mentioned Baroness Thatcher – and headed the report ‘Desperate Marketing’.

 

That may be a valid view, of course – but now all of Private Eye’s 206.000 or so readers know that Silver Fox (a) is a UK manufacturer of high performance labelling solutions and  (b) works with engineers across the globe, helping them turn time into profit utilising world leading solutions. So, in this case, a perfectly good synonym for Private Eye’s ‘desperate’ may be ‘effective’.

Huzzah for (professional) PR!

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.

Silver Fox CEO remembers Margaret Thatcher

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The funeral of Baroness Thatcher, the UK’s first female prime minister, which takes place on Wednesday, 17 April, at St Paul’s Cathedral, London, will be of special significance for those who have personal memories of her.

 

Among those is Nick Michaelson, CEO of Silver Fox, the UK manufacturer of high performance labelling solutions.

 

He met Margaret Thatcher when, as prime minister, she opened the Offshore Europe ’85 exhibition and conference in Aberdeen in September 1985. Opening the exhibition, Mrs Thatcher prophesied accurately: “UK oil and gas is not a short term phenomenon. The build-up in recent years may have been rapid but I don’t doubt the industry will be flourishing, not only at the end of this century, but well beyond.”

 

When Margaret met Nick - at Aberdeen in 1985.

Nick Michaelson, whose company was then in its early years of supplying labelling solutions to the oil and gas sector, met Mrs Thatcher as she toured the exhibition. He commented: “It wasn’t a long meeting – just enough for a handshake and a few words – but I recall that she had quite a personality and ‘presence’, as befits a prime minister.

 

“Opinion has tended to polarise about Margaret Thatcher. Of course, she didn’t court consensus and accepted controversy for causes in which she believed – and that determined approach wins you both friends and enemies.

 

“Understandably, we haven’t been invited to her funeral,” he added. “Instead, we’ll be continuing our work with engineers across the globe helping them turn time into profit utilising our world leading solutions, designed developed and made by us here in the UK.

 

“The quest never ends. Even in the last 12 months, more solutions have been added including our Low Smoke Zero Halogen cable labels which are already being supplied into markets as diverse as London Underground and offshore rigs built in the Middle East – and all made by us here in the UK, or, as Margaret Thatcher used to put it, ‘UK plc’.

 

“Without the inspiration and business environment provided by Margaret Thatcher, our company wouldn’t be here today, thriving and building for the future,” he said.  “We wish her peace in her final resting place.”

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…’

Young, gifted and Brummie

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One of the delights of a public relations consultant’s existence is receiving enquiries from journalists who’re looking for help with their stories. One that has just arrived, from ‘Birmingham Living’ said: I’m looking for candidates for our Young, Gifted and Brummie section – young professionals under 30 who have made a great difference to their community and achieved great things with their life.’

I wonder why it might be difficult to find people who match all three of these criteria?

The best thing since sliced bread?

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According to The Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of science, the three most significant inventions in the history of food and drink are the fridge, pasteurised milk and the tin can. The Royal Society’s list is:

1. Refrigeration

2. Pasteurisation / sterilisation

3. Canning

4. The oven

5. Irrigation

6. The threshing machine / combine harvester

7. Baking

8. Selective breeding / strains

9. Grinding / milling

10. The plough

 

Then comes:

11. Fermentation

12. The fishing net

13. Crop rotation

14. The pot

15. The knife

16. Eating utensils

17. The cork

18. The barrel

19. The microwave oven

20.  Frying

 

Comment: This puts into context the often-used hype of ‘This is the best invention since sliced bread’ – since ‘sliced bread’ isn’t on the Royal Society’s list!

Cunning linguists

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According to the European wide project Language Rich Europe, sponsored by language teaching specialists, Rosetta Stone, all European countries have foreign language provision in primary education. Denmark and Greece make two foreign languages compulsory, while 18 countries have one compulsory foreign language. Only in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, are foreign languages optional.
Also, according to Rosetta Stone, there are more than a million children between five and 18 years old in UK schools who speak some 360 languages between them, and more than 60 of these languages are taught in community language classes.

 

According to EU policies, all young European children should learn two languages in addition to the national language(s) of the country in which they reside. In primary education, apart from Italy and the Ukraine, all countries offer extra support for newcomers in learning the national language. In secondary education, the only countries to make two foreign languages compulsory at both lower and upper secondary level are Austria, Estonia, France, Poland, Portugal and Romania.

 

The most commonly offered foreign languages in secondary education are English, German and French. However, other European languages such as Spanish and Italian are also available. Some immigrant languages such as Arabic, Croatian, Polish, Russian and Turkish are often optional foreign languages.

 

Comment: These findings provide some interesting insights. One is the large number of languages being spoken in Europe – at least some 360 – compared with the common view that English, with Spanish and German, are the key languages of modern business.

 

Another is the implication that children are, somehow, missing out if they can’t speak at least one language other than their mother tongue – while the traditional British view has been that, if you shout loudly and slowly enough in English, the rest of the world will decide to learn your language (this seems to have worked pretty well up to now, of course). Moreover, with a million children in the UK speaking 360 languages between them, maybe times are changing in terms of the ‘shouting loudly and slowly in English’ strategy – but I doubt it, since it’s worked so well in the past.

 

Finally, it’s interesting to note that ‘only in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, are foreign languages optional (in schools)’. Could Rosetta Stone be thinking of the fact that two languages – English and Welsh -are now  taught in many Welsh schools? In that case, the only question is which language is the ‘foreign’ one?

The Welsh language translation on the road sign reads: ‘I am out of the office at the moment. Please send any work to be translated.’ Unaware of the real meaning of the message, officials had it printed on the sign under the English.

Waste King helps football club to achieve its goals

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St Margaretsbury FC first team with one of their goals, partly funded by Waste King.

The specialist collections, clearance and recycling company, Waste King, has contributed funds towards goals and other equipment at St Margaretsbury Football Club. Its donation – part of the company’s on-going corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitment – was prompted by a request from John Waites, of London-based City Interiors, who is connected with St Margaretsbury Football Club and whose company regularly uses Waste King’s services.

 

Waste King’s managing director, Glenn Currie, commented: “We spend much of our working lives collecting and recycling things and preventing them going to waste. In a way, our support for St Margaretsbury FC is based on a similar premise because, after 118 years of providing opportunities in its locality for people to play football, it would be disappointing to see such a valuable local resource go to waste because of a lack of up-to-date resources.”

 

The football club, based in Stanstead Abbotts – and originally called ‘Stanstead Abbotts’ when it was formed in 1894 – moved to its current headquarters and changed its name in 1962. The club’s Chairman, Gary Stock, commented: “The club couldn’t enjoy its level of facilities without help from such people as Waste King.”

Comment: In these challenging economic times, it’s encouraging to see any example of CSR – especially when the support or sponsorship is not reciprocal but altruistic. It’s just another example of ‘The Big Society’ – but one for which the Government can take no particular credit.

Shostakovich’s favourite tenor

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Edgar Evans, as Hermann in Tchaikovsky's opera, The Queen of Spades.

Who was Shostakovich’s favourite tenor in the role of Zinovy, in his opera, Katerina Ismailova? Which world famous tenor urinated – unintentionally – on his dresser? And who did the world famous soprano, Marilyn Horne, ask to play with her breasts one day on the Covent Garden stage?

 

The answers – along with a great many other things – are revealed in ‘Edgar Evans – Extempore’, an e-book version of which has just been published (price £4.97) by The Endless Bookcase. The book is the biography of one of the founder principal singers of the Royal Opera, at Covent Garden, after the War. The book reveals what national and international artistic life was like in the 25 or so years after the War and contains a number of fascinating anecdotes about famous people of the day set against a colourful local historic background. At least, that’s what the publishers say and, as the book’s author, I couldn’t possibly begin to disagree.

 

For more details of the e-book, visit: http://www.theendlessbookcase.com/shop/products-page/ebooklet/edgar-evans-extempore/