RNLI AND GOODYEAR CELEBRATE SAFETY SUCCESS

THE wet weather may have put a dampener on the British summer so far, but it has helped a leading tyre company to raise thousands of pounds for the RNLI.  At the beginning of the year, Goodyear joined forces with a prominent British safety charity, the RNLI, to help fund its vital lifesaving training by making a donation to the organisation’s ‘Train one, save many’ campaign from its tyre sales.

Every purchase of a set of the company’s award winning HydraGrip tyres, acclaimed for its unrivalled wet weather performance, has seen £2 go straight to the RNLI – and the scheme has been given the thumbs up by safety conscious motorists who have already helped raise over £10,000 in the first half of the year.  And it is not only motorists and the RNLI that have declared HydraGrip a safety success, with leading car magazine Auto Express heralding it as the ‘Best Buy’ in the family tyre market in the UK’s biggest independent comparison test of tyre safety and performance, involving 16 different brands.

Goodyear decided to team up with the RNLI as part of its on-going drive to champion safety through innovation in all areas of sport and leisure, and brand manager Ben Crawley is delighted at the success so far.  He said:- “The partnership is a fantastic fit, and while the wet weather has encouraged motorists to purchase HydraGrip tyres, the money generated for the charity has in turn also seen people benefit affected by the bad weather as the organisation’s Rapid Response Units (RRU), which specialise in swift water rescue, were deployed during the recent flooding.

It is the fact that people rely on the RNLI to provide a safe solution in so many different sets of circumstances that made us so determined to raise money for them, and we are delighted that our customers have had the chance to get involved in that.  The results from Auto Express could not be more timely as they clearly demonstrate that our commitment to safety is being backed up by a portfolio of tyres that make a genuine difference to family safety on the roads.

If anything brings the safety benefits of HydraGrip home, it is the wet cornering section of the test, which saw the HydraGrip have 49 per cent more grip than one of its leading competitors – our catchline is ‘not all tyres are the same’ and this clearly demonstrates it.  Goodyear is renowned for providing the latest innovations to make motoring ever safer and it is great that we can back an essential UK charity that is constantly finding new ways to protect people across the country.  We are also supporting them in many other ways and have developed a section on our website where people can get the latest information on RNLI developments and the partnership with Goodyear.”

Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its crews have saved more than 137,000 lives, and in 2006 RNLI lifeboats rescued 8,015 people (an average of 22 people per day) - with RNLI Lifeguards assisting 10,448 people. 

RNLI spokesperson Marie Cowan believes the recent activity from the Rapid Response Unit shows exactly why awareness and funding is so important to the charity.  She said:- “Over 120 flood victims were rescued by the RNLI in Worcestershire and Gloucestershire during the floods, including many vulnerable people like a woman with her seven month old baby, so it is good to know that companies like Goodyear, through HydraGrip sales, are supporting the training of lifeboat crew to enable them to carry out specialised rescue work inland.  The donation through the HydraGrip is a great fit, with 50p coming to us for every tyre they sell, but there are many other benefits to the relationship and we are working towards a long-term partnership.”

Drivers looking to support the link or read the full Auto Express test results can get more information from mygoodyear.co.uk and find the nearest HydraGrip stockist.

Stress reigns supreme for workers in Liverpool offices but we’re still calmer than Cardiff

NEW research into the causes of ‘office rage’ has revealed the frustrations felt by office workers in the UK and Ireland. The poll, commissioned by Canon, world leader in digital imaging technology, found that long and pointless meetings are the principle cause of anger across UK and Irish offices with ill manners and office politics coming out on top in Liverpool.  The study, which questioned approximately 3000 European office workers across Europe showed that 61% of Liverpool workers are stressed by being spoken down to, with 50% highlighting office politics as a key workplace stress. As many as 8 out of 10 of the city’s office workers have witnessed acts of visible anger where colleagues have let their frustration get the better of them.

The research revealed that the primary cause of Liverpool workers losing their temper was being spoken down to by a boss or colleague (65%) but interestingly PC downtime (18%). people leaving paper jams in printers for others to fix (12%) and printer downtime (24%) scored highly when it came to physical outbursts. The UK’s most angry offices were found to be Cardiff – with 70% admitting to outbursts at work – followed by Leeds (61%) and Manchester (58%). Liverpool came in at 47% and workers in Dundalk, Brighton and Cork are the calmest and least prone to temper tantrums.

The research shows a modern day phenomenon, labelled ‘Office Rage’ by psychotherapist and occupational stress expert Lucy Beresford. Beresford said:- “For people to feel less stressed in the office, they need to feel more in control of their working life and working environment. When this control is lost through external events such as a rude boss, sitting in a pointless meeting or a printer jam that no one wants to fix, it doesn’t take much for the average office worker to snap. There is no doubt that office rage is on the increase, but a range of initiatives such as crisper meetings or interpersonal kindness could reduce office stress levels in a sometimes stressful society.”

The research also showed the stress caused by ‘admin agony’, currently being experienced by office workers around Liverpool. Collating documents came out as the most frustrating and stressful admin task (42%), followed by searching for files on the company network (22%), and preparing for presentations (17%). 11% of Liverpool office workers waste more than 4 hours a week on collating documents, accounting for over a 10th of the working week and 1 in 10 wastes more than 2 hours a day on unnecessary admin tasks. When asked what they would spend this wasted time on if they could improve office productivity the resounding response from Liverpool workers was more time for personal development (42%) followed by leaving the office on time (22%).

74 extra car park spaces to be made at Ormskirk & District General Hospital

ONE of the car parks at Ormskirk & District General Hospital is to be improved over the coming months. Car Park B, which is accessed by turning right off Dicconson Way passed the Children's A&E entrance towards the rear of the hospital, is being upgraded, extended, tarmaced and marked out with spaces. When completed, the number of spaces will have increased from about 156 to 230, 11 of which will be designated as disabled parking. It will be also be floodlit at night and be covered by CCTV cameras.

Work will start on the 15 October and will be carried out in 3 phases starting with the area nearest to Wigan Road. There will be no parking on this area for 6 weeks. Altogether it will take 20 weeks with the first 2 phases completed before Christmas. While work is being carried out, a traffic light control system will be in place, when necessary. Please follow signs and directions at all times.

Because parking is limited on the Ormskirk site, patients and visitors are asked to bear with us and please consider whether alternative transport can be used to get to the hospital during the time of this work.