Our Family Fun Day is happening this Sunday 7 September in Edge Hill University, Ormskirk between 10-4pm. I’m excited for the weekend to see all our hard work pay off and hopefully raise a lot of money for our very worthy charities. I’ll be interested to see how competitive the departmental football teams will be because I think our aim of getting people to meet new friends from other departments might go out of the window pretty quickly when the goals start coming!
The Civil Service Local team here in the north west and some of our volunteers have worked really hard to get this event organised – but after Civil Service Live 2014, event planning seems to come much more naturally now. So far, I’ve been involved in everything from arranging the Fire Engine to visit from Ormskirk Station to devising children’s games and races to keep our young guests entertained all day. I’ve discovered talents I didn’t know I had (including a very in depth knowledge of how to colour-code lollipops), and was not at all surprised that my friends, family and colleagues came rushing out to support in different ways.
It’s been tougher than I thought to arrange a day of fun, and even as I write this the plans are still changing, so it’s going to be a busy Saturday and Sunday for us all. Strangely no-one seems to mind having to come to ‘work’ on a weekend and we have had plenty of volunteers to help us. Maybe that’s because it’s for a great cause, or maybe we just all really like what we do?
My day-to-day work at Civil Service Local means I’m responsible for our Government Access Point (GAP) project, where we support patients, carers and families of people in local hospices. I’ve seen first hand how important the hospices are to people in our local communities and I know all donations and money raised will be really well-received (and well-used) at St Catherine’s and Trinity Hospices.
The only thing we can’t control is the weather, so I’m hoping the rain stays off so we can all enjoy the day. I’d love to see as many of you as possible there – it’s open to everyone so tell your colleagues, family and friends to come and support us. There will be plenty of fun and games including a massive tombola, cake stalls, and a raffle with some incredible prizes.
If you are interested to find out more, please contact Jayne.krol@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk or to enter a football team contact Andrew.ashworth@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk
13 comments
Comment by John Mark Haskey posted on
Glyn Hughes won't be able to go to our Family Fun Day on the 7th of September but still wanted to do his bit for the cause - so took to the skies instead! Glyn asked his friends, family and colleagues to sponsor him to fly above Liverpool city centre on a zip wire with the proceeds to be donated to the Family Fun Day collection for the two hospices mentioned.
I am working on getting his videos of him flying onto this blog but in the meantime you can visit him at Flikr:-
https://www.flickr.com/photos/glynmages/15070530965 and see how he did.
You can contact Glyn on <a title="e-mail Glyn" href="mailto:%20glyn.hughes@dwp.gsi.gov.uk" rel="nofollow">contact me for details</a> and maybe contribute to his sponsership.
And don't forget to go along to the Family Fun Day - it sounds like it's going to be a great day - and you won't have to go on a zip wire to get there! Have fun.
Comment by Glyn Hughes posted on
Thanks John - I'm sure it'll be a great day - it sounds like the plans are going very well!
Comment by Kirsty posted on
It was awful. Really poor turn out. The dog team was really 3 dogs and a few miserable handlers. 4-5 stalls, an ice cream van and a bit of football. Wasn't worth the journey in the car.
Comment by Kathie Bates posted on
I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your day with us Kirsty. It was unfortunate that a number of the planned events let us down at the last minute which would have given more variety. Not much you can do about that the day before!
The weather was kind and over 300 people joined us, civil servants and their families from over 10 departments, to help raise £500 for our 2 hospices. This was the 1st event of its kind in the North West and I'm immensely proud of the Civil Servants who organised, hosted and took part in the event in their own time, seeing families and colleagues having fun together outside the work place was lovely and quite inspiring.
We'd love to make the event better next year and are always on the look out for willing volunteers, so if you'd like to help us we'd love to hear from you.
Comment by Kathie Bates posted on
Well.....the sun shone, teams turned up and a great day was had by all. Veterans UK were the proud winners of the first CS Local cross government football competition and we raise almost £500 for St.Catherine's and Trinity Hopsices. A huge thank to everyone involved - Civil Servants, Friends, Family and CS Local business partners for organising and supporting the family. A great day was had by all.
Comment by Carol Mc posted on
Well worth giving up a small part of our day to help such great causes. It didn't matter which department we came from, we all worked together for something so worthwhile and to give something back to our community.
Comment by Jayne K posted on
Great to see so many people giving up their own time to plan and attend the fun day to raise money for two great causes! I know the money will be really appreciated by the hospices. Everyone who took part should feel proud of their contribution.
Comment by Andy Ashworth posted on
Thanks to everyone for a great day!!!!
The football tournament went to plan and everyone played with a smile...lots of goals (for most teams) and some great football on show at times! A great chance to meet lots of new people and pit our skills against each other...not just in work.
With the sun shining the family also came along and enjoyed the kids games/races and selection of stalls - lots of effort went into organising and there was a bit of everything. It was like a summer fair...coming home with a handful of tombola prizes and sweets! Some great raffle prizes on offer too - but didnt win 🙁
Hopefully this is something we can do every year...iand raise more money for our charities!!!
Well done everyone!
Comment by Carla Loftus posted on
The sun shone, it was a lovely day, we all had fun & made lots of money for some worthwhile charities too. Thanks to everyone who came. Hopefully next year we'll raise even more!
Comment by Karen P posted on
The sun certainly did shine. It was a fantastic opportunity for me to understand what it meant to be part of civil service local and to see so many people giving up their time to attend this event, run stalls and play football/basketball. It was great to see different areas within the Civil Service working together.
Comment by Mandy Morris posted on
Mandy Morris- 9.9.2014- I went to the fun day with my family and the weather was beautiful. We really enjoyed the day and it could have been soo much more beneficial if there were more stalls and bouncy castles, pony rides etc. Health and safety has gone mad!!!!
My girls particularly enjoyed the demonstration by the security dogs.
When's the next one??!! XX
Comment by Karen Bond posted on
I went to the family fun day with my daughter aged 8 she loved taking part in the tombola stall and basketball competition. The fun day was great as I had arranged to meet people from a civil service learning project and it was great chance to interact with them and their families. After this we went to watch the prison dog display and was really impressed with how well the dogs had been trained and cared for. A lovely day in the sun - will definitely attend future events.
Comment by Kelly Farrell posted on
Had a great day, the prison dog demonstration, face painting and the basketball competion were particular highlights. A great way to involve Civil Servants and their families in something lighthearted, fun and supports such good causes. Win Win Win!