d03f4472-b24c-4545-8c4c-d08288259241

ISLEOFMANEXAMINER WorkingWeek CAPITAL INTERNATIONAL GROUP SPONSORED BY

39

Tuesday, September 14, 2021 www.iomtoday.co.im

Serena is still a fund- raising champ by JulieBlackburn

I thinkwe just need to try and get everybody back tohaving that ethos of volunteering and thinking of others,’ says SerenaWood. She is reflecting on the fact that, whilstmany peoplewent above and beyond tohelp others during the pandemic, its aftermathhas been to engender a bit of a ‘bunker’ men- tality. Even in the islandmany peo- ple have still not fully returned to work and are not going to events in the sameway as they didbefore. Not only that but, aswe got used to the ‘safer’ method of tapping a card for our purchases, we have all got out of the habit of carrying cash. For someonewho shakes as many collecting buckets and or- ganises asmanyworkplace raffles and cake bakes as Serena does this has been aworrying situation and it hasmeant her having think outside the boxwhen it comes to raising money. ‘It’s beenhard to come upwith fundraising ideaswhere you can still include people that are at home –we’ve done online bingos and

quizzes, things like that. ‘One fundraiserwe didnot too long agowas a pledge auctionon ourworkplace Facebook. Itwas just nice to see the different things that peoplewere pledging – one of the members of staffoffered a ride in his vintage car - and obviously [even in lockdown] you could save it for when you could see that person and do it in the future,’ she says. A long timemember of Zurich Isle ofMan’s staffcharity commit- tee, Serena is alsoZurich’s commu- nity champion. Thismeans that she is themain point of contactwithinZurichon the island for anything related to the company’s fundraising arm, the ZZurichFoundation, which is a separate legal entity to themain group. Serena says: ‘I help organise anything that’s linked inwith the ZZurichFoundation.We’ve had a massiveCovid response including

Serenahasusedher loveof cycling tohelpraise funds

“

I THINKWENEED TOTRYANDGET BACKTOHAVING THEETHOSOF VOLUNTEERING ANDTHINKINGOF OTHERS

a large donation to the Isle ofMan Foodbankwhen the pandemic first hit andwewere in lockdown, and a donation toWomen’s Refuge. ‘This year, Zurich Interna- tional’s employees here on the island raised funds for VaccinAid, a campaign ledby theUKCommit- tee forUNICEF (UNICEFUK) and Crowdfunder raisingmoney to helpUNICEFdeliver Covid-19 vac- cines, tests and treatments tomil- lions of vulnerable people around theworld. It’s all part of anongoing global campaignwhichhas already resulted in the ZZurichFounda- tion supportingUNICEF to deliver more than2.5milliondoses of Cov- id-19 vaccines to frontlineworkers and themost vulnerable as of June 30, 2021.’ Being seen to support local

they really enjoy it and theywant to domore for charities themselves,’ says Serena. She goes on: ‘ZZFhave been absolutely brilliant theymatch any fundraising thatwe do inter- nally they alsomatch any volun- teer hours. So the company allows everybody in the office tohave three full paiddays volunteering and those hours thatwe spend vol- unteeringwe get as a donation as well fromZZF that goes to the staff charity fund so it’s awin-win.’ Serena doesn’t just raisemoney atwork. Out of hours her fund- raising credentials aremore than impressive. Akeen cyclist, she and her sister,MelanieDowling, have beenorganising the Paint the Plan-

communities and charities is far more important than the positive impact on a company’s brand im- age. Taking part in fundraisers and volunteering is such a cohesive ele- ment in anyworkplace as itmeans colleagues getting together tohelp others, andhaving fun along the way. ‘Youneed to get buy-in from staff to join in and then they realise

CONTINUED ON PAGE 40

Grow with an award-winning company with clients across the world

For more details visit: www.capital-iom.com