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Fusion volunteers spruce up Silksworth

Immediate release: 21 April 2009

Volunteers from Fusion Contact Centres in Sunderland and Peterlee have showed their true colours by taking up the challenge to transform the Silksworth Community Centre in Sunderland.

Thirteen was the lucky number of volunteers from the management team who donned their overalls and paint brushes to give a lick of paint to five of the main areas of the centre, which is the hub of the local community.

Fusion is the call centre division of the BGL Group – one of the UK's largest privately-owned personal lines insurance intermediaries – and has pledged to undertake at least two challenges this year under the North East Business in the Community Cares programme in a bid to put something back into the local surrounding area in which it operates.

They painted the reception area, coffee lounge, an office and both sets of toilets at the centre which is used by the young and elderly alike with an IT suite, a small library, dance classes, clubs, games and mums and toddlers groups.

They spent around £200 from their GIVE committee fund – which is allocated to help local good causes - to purchase the paint and equipment, with some supplied by the Community Centre Association too.

Fusion Renewals Manager Tony Barrett, one of the team leaders, said: "It was an excellent challenge. It was a really great team-working opportunity and it was really rewarding to see how delighted they were with our work. It was a very worthwhile day. We're already looking into the next challenge where we will hopefully get some of our call centre advisors involved in the summer."

Mrs Pat Burn, Silksworth's Voluntary Secretary said: "On behalf of the Management Committee of Silksworth Community Association, I would like to express sincere thanks to the hard-working group of volunteers from Fusion for the good work completed in the Community Centre. The entrance and coffee area is now clean and welcoming, the toilet walls have been painted and the group did the work in an efficient and extremely cheerful manner. They even cleaned up afterwards!

"It's a busy centre and many, many people will benefit from the improvements made. The centre only has a part-time cleaner, is run solely by volunteers, involves a lot of hard work behind the scenes, and any additional constructive help is really appreciated. Thanks also to Claire Taylor from Cares for her organisation of the day, which resulted in a good partnership working and achievement. They certainly made a difference in a day! Well Done!"

Cares is Business in the Community's national campaign mobilising businesses and employees to address social issues in communities most in need through volunteering projects.

Claire Taylor, Community Impact Co-ordinator for BITC, said: "The Cares team challenge with Fusion at Silksworth Community Centre was a real success and allowed the volunteers to be actively engaged in community investment while being involved in a great team-building day. The volunteers were really organised, motivated and worked very hard to achieve excellent results. To show their appreciation, the team leaders organised a prize giving ceremony at the end of the day which proved to be a terrific way to finish the project!"