County Council staff dress down for Haiti
In a first, Warwickshire County Council staff all dressed down to raise money for earthquake-stricken Haiti.
Staff across the entire council were given permission to wear casual clothes for the day on the proviso that they make a minimum contribution of £1 to the Disasters and Earthquake Committee fund which has been set up to co-ordinate fundraising on behalf of Haiti.
County council employees regularly raise money for charities, with dressing down at the end of a week being one of the commonest means of doing so, but this is the first time that an effort has been co-ordinated across all the directorates in the county council.
Jim Graham, Chief Executive of Warwickshire County Council, said: “This marks a brief change in focus for staff. Whether we work with children, older people, our schools, the communities and local areas, our working agenda is driven to make Warwickshire a better place. And rightly so.
“I am grateful for staff’s dedication but am equally pleased that we, as a workforce, have seen a bigger, more global picture. It is to our credit that we are looking to help the people of Haiti too.”
Jo Casey, one of the members of staff who helped organise the day, said:
“We have a number of staff reps groups across the council who not only act as an advocate for staff on issues like morale and wellbeing, but support local and national charities through a number of fundraising activities. I’m pleased so many staff have contributed on one form or another, and money is going to such a worthy cause’.