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MILLIONS TO STAY AWAY FROM WORK FOR A DAY
IN what could
be the largest mass absence from work for a generation, an estimated
5 million people will not be coming in to work on Thursday, May 15. None of them will be making excuses. And none of their employers
will be accusing them of skiving.
For the 3rd year, a day in May has been chosen as National Work from
Home Day. Led by the likes of BT and Transport for London, and with
the approval of organisations such as the TUC, CBI and British
Chambers of Commerce, employers and staff around the UK are being
encouraged to work from home that day, so that everyone can
experience the benefits. National Work from Home Day is
organised by Work Wise UK, a national not-for-profit initiative to
promote “smarter” working practices – such as flexible,
remote and mobile working, and working from home. It aims to
give half the working population, some 14 million, the opportunity
to work smarter by 2011.
“This is not a day off to those participating. It’s the
chance for hard-working, open-minded people to demonstrate that
without the stress induced by the workplace environment, with the
often long commute many have to endure, people can be even more
productive by occasionally working from home. We say,
you lose nothing by trying it out, and you may be surprised by the
positive impact of the experiment.”
said
Phil Flaxton, Chief Executive of Work Wise UK,.
The day marks the start of Work Wise Week, running until Wednesday,
21 May 2008, consisting of a number of themed days and events beyond the
first:
Friday, 16 May 2008 will focus upon the significant positive impact
smarter working can have on the environment both in terms of the
reduced need to travel and also a longer term reduction in resources
and infrastructure to support a smarter working workforce.
Weekend (17 May to 18 May 2008) will be Wise Work Weekend, a
consumer-focused initiative to provide guidance and help to those
people who would like to work smarter.
Monday, 19 May 2008 will look at the transport impacts of smarter working. A fall in the need to travel, and the staggered time of travel,
resulting from smarter working will significantly help in solving
the problems of traffic congestion and overcrowding of public
transport.
Tuesday, 20 May 2008 will focus upon employee benefits and social impacts
of smarter working in terms of improving work-life balance, leisure
and family benefits, and the knock-on effects on health and
relationships. Various organisations with interests in these aspects
will be involved in the day, both nationally and in the regions. The
emphasis will be upon promoting a better work-life balance – working
smarter, living better.
Wednesday, 21 May 2008 will be the last day of Work Wise Week and will
feature the Work Wise Summit at the QEII Conference Centre in
London. The summit will cover many of the elements of smarter
working through a series of keynote speeches and panel discussions,
including organisations such as TUC, the AA, BT and Transport for
London. The emphasis will be upon making the UK more competitive in
the face of growing economies in Asia, enabling a second industrial
revolution to make the UK one of the most progressive economies in
the world. Further information about Work Wise Week and the events
planned for the individual days will be issued to the media over the
coming weeks. Media resources and information, and a facility
enabling journalists to receive updates on the campaign, can be
found at
www.workwiseuk.pressrooms.net.
Further information about Work Wise UK can be found on the
website.
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Easter Bunny challenges Brits to find Easter online
MOST people
know Easter is one of the most significant dates in the Christian
calendar, but new research shows Brits struggling to say what some
of our other Easter traditions actually mean.
62% of people in the North West aren’t sure why they’re eating
chocolate eggs, and a further 64% don’t know what the Easter Bunny
has to do with Easter. Around 41% of people were convinced we
eat chocolate because of a 19th Century ad campaign, while 29%
wrongly believed bunnies were associated in olden days with the
increase in daylight hours.
Those hazy on the significance of the Easter egg or frankly bemused
by the role of the Bunny are being challenged to look beyond their
chocolate treats during this year’s Easter break, and look up Easter
online. Helen Milner is Managing Director of UK online
centres, and wants families across the region to take up the online
Easter challenge and get down to their nearest UK online centre or
onto their own computer to log onto myguide, the easy way to use the
internet.
She explains:- “We’re so used to swapping chocolate eggs in
the Spring that we’ve forgotten why we do it, and where it all fits
in with the Christian Easter story. Easter is actually a time when a
lot of Britain’s pagan and Christian heritage gets mixed up
together, and it’s a wonderful opportunity for families to get
together and unravel it. The internet is a great way to find out all
sorts of information for the Easter holidays – from learning more
about Easter throughout history to looking up cinema times, finding
bargain days out to checking the weather forecast. And as well as
helping you educate and entertain the kids, learning a bit more
about the internet could help you keep up with them too.”
An estimated 44% of adults in the North West are still off-line, and
myguide is designed to help web-novices or even web-phobes get
started on the internet, set up a free email account and search for
information quickly and easily. What’s more, those registering for a myguide email address by the end of March will automatically be
entered into an Easter prize draw to win a brand new laptop.
The online Easter challenge, perhaps unsurprisingly, is being
endorsed by a very famous Easter figure keen to set the record
straight, The Easter Bunny herself.
The Easter Bunny, Helen Milner, adds:- “Obviously I’m slightly hurt by the
survey’s results, and keen to see people find out more about our
culture and what’s behind Spring and Easter traditions. Nowadays the
internet is one of the best ways to find out the answer to
practically any question you have, and myguide is one of the
simplest ways to use it. The Bunny was originally a pagan symbol of
new life because of the, er, fertility of rabbits. Today of course
my role has changed and I do a lot of appearances at school fetes
and Easter parades and things. The fact is that even though it’s
good to learn about the past, you’ve got move with the times, and
Easter is a perfect time to get to grips with technology and hop
online.
The internet really is a great
resource for families, and it could save you time, hassle and even
money in everyday life. It can even be fun, and that’s what the
online Easter challenge is all about!
I hope families across the
North West take up the challenge, and use the Easter holidays to
spend a bit of time together finding out about both the internet and
Easter itself.”
Visit myguide on your own computer at
www.myguide.gov.uk, or find your nearest UK online
centre by calling 0800 77 1234.
Our friendly staff
can give you as much help as you need to get going online. |
