Enfys- Autumn Edition

Enfys Autumn 2012

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Inside this issue: Tales of Summer fun Regular Office Updates TWWW FAQs

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Editor’s Welcome

Welcome to the Autumn issue of Enfys.

Inside you will find the regular office updates and announcements as well as a wonderful feature with tales of Mair’s Australian adventure.

We also have some fab snaps from the Eisteddfod and Jane’s trip to the Olympic Park!

As ever a massive thanks to everyone who contributed content. We couldn’t make Enfys happen without you.

The Enfys Team

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What’s Occurring? urt o C or nch

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It’s been a busy few months in Anchor Court, with new arrivals, planning for the Eisteddfod and many a buffet. Our love of cake is well known!

The Marketing team have been working flat out over the past couple of months planning the Eisteddfod and Dress to Progress campaign with fantastic results. A much needed break was had when some us went out for a meal to celebrate John, Anwen and Chris’ birthdays which all fall in a single week!

We have welcomed Christine and Helen into the office, adding yet another department to the ranks in Anchor Court.

We also had 2 successful buffets, one to celebrate the Jubilee and another to raise funds for Elena’s Beach Canter in aid of Ty Hafan and the new breast clinic at Llandough hospital. (We raised £90) Both were hugely successful with quizzes, raffles and mountains of food. Anwen’s mother’s Jubilee cake was a particular highlight.

Many a holiday has been had. Jane has been regaling us with tales of her Olympic trip to London. Needless to say many of us are green with envy, which is sure to increase when Christine returns from New York.

Natasha spent a week in a tent at Download festival (it was very muddy). Katy has recently returned from a mammoth trip to the USA, Debs is still sporting a tan from Portugal, and Maria and Emma are soon jetting off to America. Phew! Quite a bunch of jetsetters aren’t we?!

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What’s Occurring?

Nor th W Exciting times in Colwyn Bay with the news of ales Amy’s pregnancy and welcoming two new starters, Delyth Phillipps as Project Officer and Siân Richings as Project Trainer who have swelled our numbers here in North Wales to 8. Both Siân and Delyth are fluent Welsh speakers and Siân will be available to deliver some courses in Welsh whilst Delyth will be trying to engage with more of the rural Welsh businesses to get them on the Evolve programme.

We have had a busy few months with all our courses being full and we have also started holding peer mentoring sessions on a variety of subjects which has proved really popular with our participants.

We recently held another Team Development day at the Quay Hotel in Deganwy which proved to be both fun and productive. The aim of the day was to develop a sense of team by acknowledging our successes and planning for the future. It was also a good way for everyone to share any issues or worries and for the whole team to come up with ideas and solutions. The whole team contributed to the day and people were offered slots to discuss elements of their roles they find tricky; the rest of the team helped them think up solutions.

It’s also amazing what you learn about each other by playing silly games over lunch! I’m betting not many people know that Carl has never dated a welsh girl (shame on him), that Jane once sat next to Bennie from Crossroads on a tube, (Only those of a certain age will appreciate that!) or that Quita sold make up to Adam Ant!

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What’s Occurring?

Nor th Con Wales tinu ed

We were involved in the Communities Can Conference held in the Eirias Rugby stadium which was attended by 200 women and businesses and looked at the role of coaching and mentoring in the community.

Susie did a presentation on Evolve which proved very popular and Jane entertained them with her singing.

A very cold April Saturday saw us in Tesco’s foyer targeting women shoppers for the Ascent programme. It was lovely talking to the ladies (and the men) but were amazed how many people approached us with money in hand asking who we were collecting for. One lady was very keen on what we did and I really wanted to sign her up but at the age of 87 she didn’t feel it was beneficial to her.

Amy has attended two conferences: one in Brussels and one in Finland, resulting in a successful partnership with a company in Belgium called ‘Jump’ which supports women in a similar way to Chwarae Teg. It was also an opportunity to share with Women in Finland what Chwarae Teg does here in Wales.

Jane found her summer sunshine on her Mediterranean cruise, I found mine in Australia and Dewi found his in Croatia but for the rest of us as far as the sunshine is concerned we are still waiting!

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Spotlighted Lucy had her PhD graduation on the 19th July having passed her PhD in ethnomusicology (the anthropology of music) last year. Lucy’s thesis was on the influence of Soviet Politics on Mongolian film music during the Socialist era (1924-1900).

Congratulations Lucy!!

The Way We Work Campaign August saw a request for nominations from CT staff as to who they thought was an outstanding exemplar of the ‘Ambassador for Chwarae Teg’ aspect of TWWW. Katy has reviewed the nominations and has chosen Christine O’Byrne as the outstanding exemplar this month. Congratulations to Christine and all those that received nominations.

Don’t forget that September is focusing on ‘Working Together’. Please send your nominations to thewaywework@chwaraeteg.com

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Green Feature Green Dragon Update

Since achieving our Level 2 award, things have been quiet on the Green Dragon front. The Green Champions are continuing to monitor the energy usage and waste levels in all CT office and I am working on the recommendations in our audit report to ensure that we retain our Level 2 award at reassessment next March.

Tash

The 22nd of Sept. is World Car Free Day. Why not try walking, cycling or jumping on a bus to help lower our carbon footprint!

Green News The UK has been named as the top ranking among the world’s 12 largest economies for reducing pollution in industry, transport and buildings.

A report launched in Washington by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy placed the UK ahead of countries such as America (who were 9th), Germany, Italy and China.

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Employee Forum Update Following the initial meeting of the Employee Forum it was agreed that 2 yearly meetings would not give the forum enough opportunity to put the thoughts and concerns of CT staff to SMT. As a result an interim meeting was held in June, the minutes of which are available on SharePoint.

Going forward, the next meeting is due to take place on the 3rd October so please see your reps with any feedback on the minutes form previous meetings or any topics you want to see discussed in October.

Remember this is your forum and it is designed to give you the opportunity to see the issues you care about discussed in a frank and confidential environment.

Don’t forget you can also send ideas and suggestions into the Bright Ideas staff suggestion scheme for discussion at SMT.

Send your ideas to brightideas@chwaraeteg.com

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TWWW FAQ What is it again?

‘The way we work’ is a framework that all staff can use to help them be the best they can be in their role. Within the framework there are 5 themes: Ambassador for Chwarae Teg, Working together, Communicating positively and effectively, Personal responsibility and Leading the way. Under each of these themes, there are positive indicators to support staff in evaluating their practice and the practice of others. Please note this list is not exhaustive; there may be other positive indicators you can think of that you choose to use instead.

Yes, I get that bit but what is the purpose?

The reason for creating ‘The way we work’ was that staff had asked for an internal framework to ensure that we are not only able to offer feedback on performance in roles but also on the way we do what we do. This framework should give people the tools to highlight areas of excellence at work in themselves and their colleagues and also areas for personal development. The way we work should not only be used once a year in appraisals and it is not intended for managers only; it is for all of us to use daily be that with peers, managers and SMT alike.

So, what is this campaign then?

After its launch at Chwarae Teg’s 20 th anniversary celebrations, some staff members have fed back that they are unsure how to implement the framework in their day to day business.

The working group decided that more awareness needed to be raised and what better way to do this than for us to showcase the excellent work that goes on, sometimes seemingly unnoticed every day. Last month, we had 17 examples of exemplar employees sent to us under the theme of ‘Ambassador for Chwarae Teg’! All of those staff will receive recognition for their commitment and one of them will be chosen as our exemplar employer under this theme (with an M&S voucher on its way to them). We will be using this format with a different theme every month and reminders will be sent to staff via email and on payslips.

How do I offer feedback to management though?

The way we work should be used in exactly the same way by all colleagues, no matter what their level of seniority is. We would always encourage staff to communicate positively and effectively on any issue that concerns them and in the first instance, it is better to raise that with the individual directly so that, in the case of constructive feedback, they have the opportunity to have their say and/or improve their performance.

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TWWW FAQ ‘The way we work’ should help colleagues with difficult conversations and the more the framework is used, the more we will encourage a culture of open feedback amongst staff. If staff do not feel comfortable raising a concern with their line manager or do not feel that their concern has been resolved, they can always speak to the HR team, an Employee Forum representative, a member of the Senior Management team or the Chief Executive in confidence but we would hope that the problem does not need to escalate this far. Further information on giving and receiving feedback for all staff will follow shortly so that people who may have concerns around this, have the opportunity to raise them.

Anything else I should know?

Yes, ‘The way we work’ team is currently working on integrating the framework into appraisal documents which will be available on SharePoint very soon.

There is also a lot of work going on behind the scenes to build ‘The way we work’ into our recruitment and probationary processes and through our website so the framework can be discussed with all potential staff and new employees as they start their journey with us at Chwarae Teg. My question hasn’t been answered, who can I ask?

You can speak to your fellow colleagues or a manager and if you are still unsure and would like further clarity, Maria and Amy are happy to take your questions either via phone, Skype or email at: twww@chwaraeteg.com . This is also the email address to send your nominations through to each month.

As a reminder, the campaign will look at the following themes over the coming months: August

Ambassador for Chwarae Teg

September

Working together

October

Communicating positively and effectively

November

Personal responsibility

December

Leading the way

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Policy & Research Team Update

The new Policy & Research team, Christine O’Byrne and Helen Reed, has set its priorities for the rest of the year and is busy responding to consultations, attending meetings and most importantly, guiding Chwarae Teg’s key piece of research to fruition. The work continues to be varied and challenging and both Christine and Helen are enjoying their new roles and working together.

Women in the Workplace Research The research into women’s roles in the Welsh workplace is well underway and initial drafts have been received! This is only the third project of its kind that Chwarae Teg has undertaken since our inception in 1992. The aim is to establish what progress has been made over the last 20 years and to investigate the steps required to support women to contribute fully to the economy. We are delighted to report that Jane Hutt has agreed to launch the research report and the team are busy exploring options for suitable venues. The launch has been scheduled for the 21st November and Christine will keep you updated on plans for the launch and let you how you can get involved in disseminating this research. It is so important that we make the most of this research and that its key messages are circulated as widely as possible. Communication and dissemination plans are being refined and we will consult you for your suggestions in due course.

Women’s Poverty Matters!

Christine has put together a very thought provoking video on youtube which may be useful to you in your work. Please take a look: English: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q11xCpmf-6g Welsh: http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=hN_rbBNVvhE&list=HL1342440955&feature=mh_lolz We have sent this to all Assembly Members to raise awareness of Chwarae Teg’s work.

We have also tried to keep the debate around women’s poverty going amongst our networks by using Chwarae Teg’s social media channels?

Linked In and Facebook groups: Womenspire Tweet using the hashtag: #wompov

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Business Development Hub Update

We are looking forward to a very productive busy Autumn … here’s a flavour of what we’ll be up to.

Chwarae Teg Solutions – Training and Consultancy Our Autumn programme of open courses is now on our website and we are running a series of engagement activities across Wales to promote Solutions consultancy including partnering with the Wales Audit Office and Consult Capital.

Click here for more information about Chwarae Teg Solutions

We’ll be facilitating the Regional Work-life Balance Networks in October at venues in Cardiff, Llandudno and Swansea.

Click here for more information about the network including dates and venues. If you know any employers interested in coming along we’d love to see them.

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Business Development Hub Update

Do you know who Chwarae Teg’s Corporate Members are? Have a look at the home page of our website and checkout the scrolling logos. Click here

We’ll be visiting our regional offices over the coming months to update you all on Chwarae Teg’s membership scheme. In the meantime you can find more information here

We’re also looking forward to delivering two Business Enterprise projects in September.

We’ve teamed up with Get Mentoring a UK wide initiative established to recruit and train thousands of business mentors from the micro, small and medium-sized business sector who would be willing to volunteer one hour a month to support a business mentee. Our first shout-out across Wales to those who have 'been there and done it' to pass on their valuable experience to SME’s attracted 60 potential mentors.

Find out more about Get Mentoring click here

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Business Development Hub Update We’re also been commissioned by BETS, WG to deliver a series of workshops across Wales for Business Advisors who support women from the black, minority, ethnic communities wanting to start up new businesses. We are working in partnership with EBSP and the workshops aim to bridge the gap between the mainstream business support provider organisations and women from BME communities living in Wales.

For more information contact Jane jane.nyhan@chwaraeteg.com

To find out more about what we’re up to please get in touch or stop by for a cuppa if you’re in Anchor Court. There may be cake!

Emma emma.pugh@chwaraeteg.com Jane jane.nyhan@chwaraeteg.com Ann ann.elliot@chwaraeteg.com

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A Golden Twelve Hours What a fab day! I was lucky enough to get tickets to some of the London 2012 venues including the Riverbank with its smurf turf!

I arrived at the Olympic Park at Stratford at 7am on Sunday morning to be greeted by very cheery games makers and passing through airport style security staffed by the Welsh Guards was surreal.

London 2012 Survival Kit

I played hockey when I was younger so to see it played at international level was very exciting. The players hit lumps out of each other especially when the Blacksticks played the Hockeyroos. I’m told this is hockey’s equivalent of the Six Nation’s Wales v England match!

The Olympic Park is enormous filled with spectacular venues including the Velodrome. After an amazing day enjoying the park we headed off to Tower Bridge and its Olympic Rings. A golden 12 hours!

Jane Nyhan

Jane wasn’t the only Business Development Team member to enjoy the Olympics. Trish and family also enjoyed a day out at the Olympic Park and Will and Alastair certainly seemed to get into the Team GB spirit!

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Staff Experiences Mair’s Australian Adventure On the 1st May 2011 our youngest son Karl left for Australia with a nonchalant wave and a ‘see you later’, leaving us standing in Manchester airport bereft with thoughts of never seeing him again. (Bit of a drama queen I know!)

He soon settled in to his new job and we spoke on Skype regularly and I was fine until New Year ’s Eve when while watching the fireworks over Sydney Opera House we (or if I’m honest ‘I’) decided I missed him so much and we just had to go and visit him. We booked our flights for the 19th March and off we went trying not to look like Greece was the furthest we had ever flown!

We had an overnight stop in Singapore which enabled us to do a quick whiz round the sights on one of the red Tourist Bus that seem to be common in every major city before going back to the airport for the next leg of the journey. The ‘dreaded’ flights turned out to be quite pleasant and relaxing and in no time at all we arrived in Sydney to be met by our son looking every bit the Aussie with his sun tan, shorts and flip flops (or thongs as they are known in Australia). I of course burst into tears at seeing him but then I am his mother.

Karl lives his life at ninety miles an hour and no sooner than we had dropped off our bags at his flat in Balgowlah he had us walking along Fairlight beach to Manley for breakfast of eggs benedict on the waterfront – the best way to beat the jet lag apparently! We then caught a bus into the city via the Sydney Harbour Bridge and our first glimpse of the iconic Opera House. We walked through Darling Harbour like the awe filled tourists that we were, and then visited the Chinese Gardens and me, being a little bit obsessed with taking photographs wherever I go immediately started our photograph collection - well this was a trip of a lifetime and we were in Sydney, click, click.

I didn’t think jet lag was a problem until that evening when we were enjoying a nice glass of wine and I fell asleep as I bent down to pick it up, almost ending up on the floor. I Thought it best to give up at that point and was sound asleep my 8.30pm.

The best way to get around Sydney is by ferry and from Manley the ferry travels across the bay and into Circular Quays between the Opera House and the bridge - beat that for a journey to work each day! Obviously I took one or two photos of the Opera House and bridge and quite often while on the ferry I would just sit in awe not quite believing that we had made this trip over 10,000 miles and here we were on the Pacific Ocean looking over to Sydney!

I can’t remember the last time I visited a zoo but I felt it had to be done - well you can’t leave Australia without seeing at least one Kangaroo and Koala! Taronga Zoo is on its own island and the ferry takes you across the bay then a cable car takes you up to the top entrance of the Zoo and you walk through the zoo back down to the ferry.

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Staff Experiences It was a fabulous day and I managed a few more photographs of the natives, namely wombats, koalas and kangaroos as well as Tasmanian Devils. (Not to be investigated too closely, a bit too vicious for my liking) The best bit of wildlife was seen locally – the massive Huntsman spiders were everywhere and although allegedly the big ones were harmless I had no intention of getting close enough to find out. The trees were filled with brightly coloured parakeets and noisy cockatoos and while sitting reading in the garden I looked up to see a kookaburra watching me from the washing line - totally unfazed by my excited oohs and aahs!

While standing on a street, map in hand a passer-by approached and asked if we needed any help. We explained we were looking for The Rocks (the oldest part of Sydney) and he duly gave us directions before adding ‘pop in to the Lord Nelson on your way past, you ‘pommies’ probably know a thing or two about him, and it’s a good glass of beer’, obviously we did as we were told! When we decided to visit Weringwah shopping mall for some retail therapy I asked the bus driver to let us know when we got there as we didn’t know the area - he looked at me and in a broad ‘aussie’ accent said, ‘it’s a bloody big place full of shops, you can’t miss it’ and he was right but he did wink at me as I got off the bus so I didn’t feel too silly.

The two weeks were nowhere near long enough to see everything and in no time at all it was time to go home. Leaving Karl was emotional and of course I cried again but he had told us he wouldn’t come back so it was hard not knowing when we would see him again.

The ‘trip of a lifetime’ was over but no sooner than we on the plane we had decided we just had to go back. As soon as we got home the ‘aussie fund’ was to be reinstated and we would start planning for the next ‘trip of a lifetime’, Australia 2014…………….

Mair Rowlands

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Tash’s Cocktail Corner Key West Cooler Bramble 1/2 shot midori 1/2 shot archers 1/2 shot Malibu

50 ml Gin Juice of 1 lemon

1.2 vodka 3 shots of orange juice 2 shots cranberry juice

Sugar Crushed ice 1/2 shot Crème de Mure

Fill a tall glass with ice and pour the midori into the bottom.

Shake the archers , Malibu and orange juice and pour slowly into the glass.

Shake the vodka and cranberry juice before pouring slowly into the glass.

If you pour carefully each layer should float

Shake the gin, lemon juice and sugar with ice then pour into a tumbler over crushed ice.

Drizzle the Crème de Mure over the top of the ice.

Garnish with a blackberry and enjoy.

Tangerine Dream Mix 3 shots grapefruit juice, 3 shots orange juice and 2 shots of Lemon juice in a glass. File with ice and enjoy!

Please enjoy these drinks responsibly 18

Announcements We have had so many birthdays over the past few moths, far too many to list everyone here. Best wishes are sent to all who have celebrated theirs in May, June, July and August!!

Birthdays

The past few months has seen quite a lot of change in Chwarae Teg. While we said a fond farewell to some team members we also welcomed a whole raft of new starters.

Sian Richings—PTO Colwyn Bay Kelly Foster—PTO Treforest Huw Thomas—PTO Llanelli Emma Thomas—PTO Llanelli Kim Talbot—PTO Llanelli Helen Reed—Policy Support Officer Louisa Cooper—Project Administrator—Llanelli Dawn Colyer—Project Liaison Officer

During October we will say a temporary farewell to Amy who will start her maternity leave at the beginning of October. We look forward to welcoming Amy back in 2013.

We shall also say a fond farewell to Katy who will be taking up the post of CEO with Business in Focus. We wish Katy well in her new role.

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Announcements Ctd Congratulations to Leanne who got married on the 10th August!

The best day of your life

And you alone

Is the one on which

Are responsible

You decide

For the quality of it

Your life is your own.

This is the day

No apologies or excuses

Your life really begins

No one to lean on Rely on or blame

Mair Rowlands

This gift is yours………

It is an amazing journey

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Creative Writing That’s Well Cool I recently attended a friend’s wedding up in a beautifully rural part of Lincolnshire. A fourstrong group of us made the long car journey, where we were able to experience a few choice highlights of the UK’s travel network. Lengthy tailbacks on the M60 ring road, a Mini barely holding on to some scaffolding poles tied to a roof rack and Burger King fries that were cold and suspiciously square shaped to name but a few.

After a good night’s sleep in our ‘country house’ hotel (which was bizarrely located in the centre of a town, next door to Spar) we made our way to the wedding. Following the lovely service in a recently refurbished old chapel, the group headed over to the reception at a nearby country inn.

Next came the disorientation, confusion and anxiety related to any wedding: the seating arrangements. Having finally found our assigned spaces, we sat down next to another group of 4 people and quickly got chatting.

It turns out that the other group were all colleagues, working for a large engineering company in the North East. As two of our group also work for an engineering firm in Deeside, conversation rapidly took on a more technical nature. Shot blasting machinery, programmable logic controllers, non-contact AC electric testers and crane lifts were amongst the rather weighty subject matter discussed.

Eventually I was of course asked where I work. After a (hopefully) brief introduction and explanation, it was at this point that the Equality & Diversity training I’d received in Cardiff earlier in the week became very useful. Particularly the section on ‘politely managing encounters with equality sceptics’ that was covered. After some reasonably healthy discussion, one member of the group left the table to get a drink making it abundantly clear that he was still quite the sceptic.

An hour or so later, we met once again in the buffet queue. This time he had his young son with him, who was about 6 or 7 years old, complete with scuff-marks on the knees of his trousers after repeatedly sliding across the wooden floor.

The sceptic took great pleasure in telling his son “Jamie, this man works for a company and they ONLY help women. Not us. Things are APPARENTLY not fair!”

“Really?” the young boy looked up at me, with big inquisitive eyes.

“Erm….. yeah” I cautiously answered him.

“You help women cuz it’s not fair?” he looked up again.

“Yeah” I answered, then asked “So what do you think about that?”

“That’s WELL cool, fair play!” he exclaimed.

Fair play…. Chwarae Teg…. So it seems even the children of rural Lincolnshire are aware of the great work we do. Long may it continue.

Dewi Jones 21

A Day out at the Eisteddfod Debs, Anne and I were lucky enough to be allocated to work at the Eisteddfod on the Thursday. Not only did we have glorious sunshine (I had the sun burn to prove it!) it also happened to be the day that the Cardiff Blues players were at their stand signing autographs.

In between handing out many leaflets, newsletters, pens and wrist bands we managed to find the time to go and meet some of our favourite Rugby stars and got to hold the 6 nations trophy!

All in all a very successful day!

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Dates for your Diary

8th September -

International Literacy day

18th September -

World Water Monitoring Day

19th September -

International Talk like a Pirate Day

21st September -

International Day of Peace

5th October -

World Teachers’ Day

8th October -

World Space Week

31st October -

Halloween

1st November -

All Saint’s Day

11th November -

Remembrance Day

30th November -

St Andrew’s Day

10th December -

Human Rights Day

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Last but not least‌.

A big thank you to everyone who has contributed to Enfys.

The next edition of Enfys is scheduled for December 2012 and will be full of Christmas cheer!!

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