Sarah Griffith of Bridge 2 Sri Lanka, left, with Poppy Byrom, centre, and Vicki Eppelein of The Temp Desk, which is helping the charity’s work. (0781945)
SOME local firms have already decided on ways to mark National Temporary Workers Week.
The annual week, which looks to recognise the role the country’s 1.4 million temps play in the economy, runs until Friday and has already seen The Temp Desk donate £1,000 to Bridge 2 Sri Lanka on behalf of its temps, with additional money being donated on behalf of each one who signs up to the charity scheme.
Bridge 2 Sri Lanka was chosen after Poppy Byrom, who works at The Temp Desk, went on a project to Sri Lanka with the charity in April and assisted with ongoing community projects.
Miss Byrom was particularly affected by the building of a house for a family whose lives had been torn apart by two road accidents. The daughter had been hit by a motorbike and suffered brain damage and the father, a stonemason, was struck by a tuk-tuk and lost the use of one arm, leaving him incapable of continuing his trade or completing the building of his house.
On her return to work she suggested using Temp Week to raise money to cover the final costs of building and furnishing the house.
Vicki Eppelein, The Temp Desk consultant, said Miss Byrom’s passion for the charity’s work had shone through and it was an easy decision to make.
‘We donated money to charity on behalf of our temps last year and it was a great success and Poppy knew we were looking to do something similar again.
‘The £1,000 pledged by The Temp Desk will cover the rest of the construction, but for each temp who signs up we will donate a bit more to help meet the family’s other needs, from installing electricity to buying vegetable plants to help them to provide for themselves.’
AP Group has also announced two initiatives to coincide with the week.
The first is a money-back guarantee for employers if the first temp assigned to them proves unsuitable.
‘We have great confidence in our temps and always strive to match an individual’s skills to those required for the job. All sorts of factors can affect the situation and if it doesn’t work out and the client lets us know, we will replace the temp and not charge for the first one,’ said Helen Gillam, AP’s temporary and contract consultant.
The second initiative is free online IT training for temps.
‘If a client likes the look of a certain person’s CV but there is a gap in a particular skill area, we will give the temp free access to online training so that they can be confident in what they’re doing. The concept of continuous professional development is very important today and why shouldn’t it apply to temps?’
Article posted on 1st June, 2009 - 2.30pm
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