‘Work from home if you can’, has been the echoing call, since the first lock down in march. The call from Boris Johnson and his team.
Due to the current pandemic many businesses have been closed and working from home has been of paramount importance. With many people turning rooms in their homes, or escaping to the garage to put together a make shift office.
One you probably wouldn’t think of is a work from theme park set up. In Japan they have announced a new initiative in order to encourage working from home. The initiative being to utilize their theme parks. A large theme park in Tokyo is offering ‘workcation’ packages. Giving employees across Japan the opportunity to work next to a beautiful pool or even on a Ferris wheel! yes that’s right you can work from a Ferris wheel.
The park charges 1,900 yen which is roughly around £14 for a weeks ticket pass. The pass includes a booth located at the pool and an hour in a private carriage on the Ferris Wheel. WIFI services are located throughout ready for you to connect your laptop or tablet to.
The Yomiuriland theme park
Japans, Work From Home Management
Japan, although a large country has managed the pandemic very well and is currently near normality with the rest of the theme park also open, which means that after a hard days work you can pay a little bit extra and purchase a park ticket allowing you to chill and unwind on all the fairground rides available…although remember you cant scream on the scary rides because that is against the covid rules.
Japan has primarily moved their businesses to being based at home. The government requested companies to have around 70% of their employees working from home. With this in mind they have been coming up with new inventive ways to encourage staff to take this option, Firstly they introduced the Theme park scheme, and then secondly they placed workstatiosn around National parks that people could rent and visit in a hope that people would reconnect with nature.
An IT solutions firm FLEQ was among one of the first companies to encourage employees to work from the theme park. In the first week around 10 employees used the amusement park as their new office. Feedback from the employees was all very positive! however some said it was hard to concentrate at first as once on the Ferris wheel they just wanted to admire the view!.
An employee working from inside the Ferris Wheel carriage.
There are lots of charities out there. Hundreds if not thousands. Everyone likes to support a good cause, but it is impossible to help them all. We have always tried to do what we can for a local children’s hospice. Indeed it has become a tradition that we don’t undertake paid events on Christmas eve, instead we attend their Christmas party giving away free candy floss and popcorn. Obviously that didn’t happen this year due to the infernal pandemic.
Remembrance Day
On the approach to V.E. day, we happened upon a news article about the Royal British Legion Industries. Now like most people we buy poppies on the run up to remembrance day, and in truth that is about the only time most will think of veterans charities. Reading the article it became apparent just how much they actually do for veterans.
Their latest post was a very poignant one. It turns out that a WWII veteran, a certain Tommy Trotter is celebrating his 100th birthday on 10th February. They have designed a downloadable birthday card for people to print out, and are asking people if they would send him a card for his birthday, as due to the lockdown he can’t have a celebration.
It’s inconceivable what they went through. At 19 I was worrying about upgrading my car, getting to my next social event, and who I fancied dating. This guy was storming the beaches of Normandy under heavy fire from nutcase Germans determined to kill him.
Tommy Trotter
If you want to send Tommy a card, the link to download them is available here. Of course you can send a card of your own design, it doesn’t have to be this one.
Our team has just sent a card, and stuck him some money in to treat himself to his favourite tipple of John Smiths bitter.
The address for the cards is;
Tommy Trotter The Last Post Cranworth Street Thornaby TS17 7DR
Raising Money For The Veterans
They also sell a nice range of commemorative products with the funds raised going to veterans charities.
V.E. Tommy
One of the products on their website is a small 25cm high range of acrylic figures. These are shaped in the classic outline of a World War I Infantryman. The so called ‘Tommy Atkins’. The equivalent of our American cousins doughboy.
Tommy Figure
Christmas Football Tommy
These are designed so that stood in a window they are barely visible, sort of there, but not there. For the £33 they cost, these are a great way to show your appreciation for what our armed forces have gone through. They also sell larger steel versions to be placed in a garden or park.
A Christmas edition was produced to commemorate the famous Christmas day truce and football match between the British and Germans.
Football Tommy
Remembrance Day Pins
We also decided to treat all of our staff to lapel pins for remembrance day, though for obvious reasons the usual ceremonies didn’t go ahead and they haven’t had chance to wear them yet.
Tommy Pin
If you can spare any help for the Royal British Legion Industries it is definitely a charity worth supporting. We all owe them a debt of gratitude for their service.
Tommy, Rudyard Kipling
I went into a public-‘ouse to get a pint o’ beer, The publican ‘e up an’ sez, “We serve no red-coats here.” The girls be’ind the bar they laughed an’ giggled fit to die, I outs into the street again an’ to myself sez I:
O it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, go away”; But it’s “Thank you, Mister Atkins”, when the band begins to play, The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play, O it’s “Thank you, Mister Atkins”, when the band begins to play.
I went into a theatre as sober as could be, They gave a drunk civilian room, but ‘adn’t none for me; They sent me to the gallery or round the music-‘alls, But when it comes to fightin’, Lord! they’ll shove me in the stalls!
For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, wait outside”; But it’s “Special train for Atkins” when the trooper’s on the tide, The troopship’s on the tide, my boys, the troopship’s on the tide, O it’s “Special train for Atkins” when the trooper’s on the tide.
Yes, makin’ mock o’ uniforms that guard you while you sleep Is cheaper than them uniforms, an’ they’re starvation cheap; An’ hustlin’ drunken soldiers when they’re goin’ large a bit Is five times better business than paradin’ in full kit.
Then it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, ‘ow’s yer soul?” But it’s “Thin red line of ‘eroes” when the drums begin to roll, The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll, O it’s “Thin red line of ‘eroes” when the drums begin to roll.
We aren’t no thin red ‘eroes, nor we aren’t no blackguards too, But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you; An’ if sometimes our conduck isn’t all your fancy paints, Why, single men in barricks don’t grow into plaster saints;
While it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, fall be’ind”, But it’s “Please to walk in front, sir”, when there’s trouble in the wind, There’s trouble in the wind, my boys, there’s trouble in the wind, O it’s “Please to walk in front, sir”, when there’s trouble in the wind.
You talk o’ better food for us, an’ schools, an’ fires, an’ all: We’ll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational. Don’t mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face The Widow’s Uniform is not the soldier-man’s disgrace.
For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Chuck him out, the brute!” But it’s “Saviour of ‘is country” when the guns begin to shoot; An’ it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ anything you please; An’ Tommy ain’t a bloomin’ fool – you bet that Tommy sees!
Like most of the rest of the events industry, our previously full order book for 2020 disappeared literally overnight due to the pesky little microbe doing the rounds. Like all of our compatriots in the industry we sat and wondered if we would ever work again, and if so when. So when we suddenly started picking up bookings for August it was both a godsend and a worry.
A godsend obviously as we would be earning again. A worry about how things were going to be under the ‘new normal’ as it is being called. The first of the jobs to arrive was for a previously regular client, Amazon. Usually through the year we do a mixture of work ranging from handing out catering goodies during Prime and peak periods, to providing a full fairground for their summer barbeque.
The first job was giving popcorn out at one of the Northern fulfillment centres. We had done the same thing a number of times over the years at the same centre so usually this would be a nice easy repeat job. However after talking with the client and doing our own research we put together a package of anti Covid-19 measures.
Catering Carts
Covid-19 Screening
The first change was to install clear polycarbonate screening on the carts we use to separate our staff from the guests. Although we could still interact with them to a degree, it did feel weird and somehow strangely disconnecting. Usually we engage in a bit of banter and joking, but this felt more ‘institutionalised.’
Zoono Anti Microbial
Zoono 30 day surface treatment
After researching most of the sanitisation options, we settled on Zoono. Not a cheap option, this bonds a film to the surface of whatever you spray it on that lasts for upto 30 days. The product actively kills virus molecules after application, rather than just during the cleaning process. For complete safety our standard operating procedure is to apply it at the start of each job. We also use their hand sanitiser, which creates a similar barrier on your hands, this time lasting for 24 hours.
Boris Says, Hands – Face – Space
Sanitisation Stations
The carts have a hand sanitiser mounted for the guests to use. We also built a number of portable units that can attach to hand rails, counters, carts, rides etc. This means that even when we are using sub contractors we can ensure that all the attractions we supply come with approved sanitisation facilities for the guests and staff.
Personal Protective Equipment
To round off our anti Covid activities, we supply all of our staff with full face shields to help protect them and the guests from each other. These are far more comfortable to wear for extended periods of working than the little face masks that we tried. Well and truly back in the saddle
