English Lakes Blog

English Lakes 2011 Awards

The English Lakes annual Awards Lunch celebrates English Lakes staffs commitment and dedication to quality service. Over the past few weeks managers and members of staff have been given the opportunity to nominate colleagues for each award through our Plus One programme.

Competition for all awards was fierce and all nominations were of a very high standard. Below is a breakdown of all winners and shortlisted finalists.

Chef of the Year  
Winner: Alicia McCabe, The Midland
Other finalists: Adelaide Njue - Storrs Hall & Miroslav Likus - The Wild Boar

Receptionist of the Year   
Winner: Yvonne Dawson, Low Wood Bay 
Other finalists: Dorota Suwala - The Midland & Hamish McIlwraith - Storrs Hall
                 
Food & Beverage Team Member   
Winner: Danny Collins, The Wild Boar
Other finalists: Filip Kieransinski - Low Wood Bay & Adam Bujok - Waterhead

Team of the Year
Winner: Low Wood Kitchen Team 
Other finalists: Waterhead Team & Central Reservations Team

Housekeeping Team Member of the Year
Winner: Doreen Butler, The Midland
Other finalists: Radek Vyska - Waterhead & Linda Watkins - The Wild Boar

Support Staff Team Member of the Year
Winner: Tim Farmer, English Lakes Support Office
Other finalists: Hannah Jackson - English Lakes & Jean Jupp - English Lakes

Quality Service Award
Winner: John Devine, Lancaster House
Other finalists: Dawid Croukamp - Low Wood Bay & Filip Kieransinski - Low Wood Bay

Unsung Hero Award   
Winner: Stephen Hoggarth, Low Wood Bay
Other finalists: Alan Inston - The Wild Boar & Brian Kearney - Low Wood Bay
     
MRWB Award
Winner: Matt Stanaway - The Midland

Nominees:
John Devine, Lancaster House
Stephen Hoggarth, Low Wood Bay
Nevil Jeffery, Low Wood Bay
Filip Kierasinski, Low Wood Bay
Yvonne Dawson, Low Wood Bay
Maria Walker, Central Reservations
Katie Price, The Midland
Lindsay Price, The Midland
Mark Needham, Waterhead
George Harker, English Lakes Support Office
Danny Collins, Wild Boar Inn
Andy Lemm, Wild Boar Inn

Congratulations to Matt Stanaway, The Midland who won the MRWB award which was created in memory of Michael R W Berry, Chairman of English Lakes from 1973-2004.  It is awarded to the individual team member who, by their efforts, has made the most significant contribution to the success of the company during the year.

Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

A massive earthquake, the seventh largest recorded in history, struck the east coast of Japan on Friday 11th March.  While the devastating Japan earthquake and tsunami have passed, the recovery and mourning have just begun. The disaster could become the most expensive earthquake in history.

Now, more than ever, the Japanese people need our help and support.

British Red Cross is taking donations online. Alternatively, if you wish to send postal donations further information and print out postal forms are available to download.
http://www.redcross.org.uk/Donate-Now/Make-a-single-donation/Japan-Tsunami-Appeal

Save the Children UK is taking online donations and credit and debit card donations over the phone. Call +44 (0)20 7012 6400. Lines are open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm.
http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/en/japan-earthquake-and-tsunami-appeal.htm

Donation though JustGiving. Shelter Box provide shelter, warmth and dignity to the families made homeless by crisis. The disaster relief charity immediately mobilised, with an initial Shelter Box Response Team heading to the affected region within hours of the catastrophe striking. Donations can be made though just giving via credit/debit card or PayPal.
http://www.justgiving.com/shelterbox-japan

Global Giving is also accepting donations online via credit/debit card, PayPal and cheque. Global Giving are working with International Medical Corps, Save the Children, and other organizations on the ground.
http://www.globalgiving.co.uk/pr/6500/proj6443a.html

MapAction has been deployed to Japan to help with Tsunami aid efforts. They are accepting donations online to product and print maps of the effected areas. MapAction deploy teams of geographical experts the minute disaster breaks. They draw up new maps on a daily basis, showing aid organisations where people are most in need. The first maps may even be drawn up in the air, en-route to the emergency, so they're ready to print and distribute as soon as the team lands.
http://www.seethedifference.org/charities/mapaction/emergency-deployment-in-disaster-zones

Donations can also be made to the Japanese Red Cross through Google's Crisis Response site, which also offers resources and information about the disaster.

Further Information 

• Google Crisis Response Page:
  http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/japanquake2011.html
• BBC News Updates from Japan:
  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12711226
• Information from Twitter:
  http://blog.twitter.jp/2011/03/blog-post_12.html
• 7 Simple Ways to Help:
  http://mashable.com/2011/03/13/japan-earthquake-tsunami-help-donate/

 

Updated 15/03/11: Added Global Giving

Updated 16/03/11: Added MapAction

If you know of any other charities accepting donations for aid relief in Japan please let us know and we will include them in this list.

Onesimus director commentates on Asian Games to audience of 500 million

A former Olympic athlete from Windermere has been commentating at a sporting event to a massive audience of around 500 million viewers.

Ian Woods, 45, the director of Low Wood Bay-based people development company Onesimus, temporarily swapped working with managers at top UK firms for a microphone and headphones at the recent Asian Winter Games held in Kazakhstan.

Mr Woods, who represented Great Britain in biathlon at the Albertville and Lillehammer Winter Olympics, was commenting on his former sport as well as the cross country skiing event.

“It was a great adventure,” he said. “I really enjoyed doing the work and it was a fantastic experience. The people in Kazakhstan are wonderful and I was very surprised by how good the infrastructure was. They had clearly spent a lot of money to create a positive impression.”

Viewers from more than 20 different countries across Asia and Australasia tuned in to the Astana-Almaty Games. Mr Woods was helping provide the English language commentary for the International Games Broadcasting Service which provided the television footage for the events.

Mr Woods, who has previously done television commentary for Eurosport and was also the national coach of the British biathlon team after hanging up his skis and rifle, likened the competition’s standard to the Commonwealth Games.

He said: “The standard was very high in some of the sports – particularly the ones I was commentating on, such as biathlon and cross country skiing. They are big winter sports fans in Kazakhstan, especially having taken a silver medal in the biathlon sprint at the Olympics twelve months ago, so there were huge crowds with high expectations.  They have a lot of history in these sports from the Soviet era.”

Ian Woods has been the Director of Onesimus since 2001.  The company is part of the English Lakes group which also includes three hotels and an inn here in the Lake District and two hotels in Lancashire.

Two years ago Ian led an English Lakes team which took a giant red nose up to the top of Skiddaw for Red Nose Day and two years earlier he travelled Around the Lakes in 80 Ways for the charity.

For more information about Onesimus please visit www.onesimus.info

Two great nights for one great price!

Storrs Hall and Kendal College are working in partnership to bring you a culinary treat, in the form of two spectacular dining events on two separate nights, one at Kendal College and one at Storrs Hall.

On March 24^th the Kendal College culinary team will be cooking and serving at the prestigious Storrs Hall, to recreate the Grade 1 Centre of Vocational Excellence food that Kendal College is well known for.

On March 31^st Will Jones and his team from Storrs Hall will be taking control of the Kendal College kitchen and restaurant to produce the two AA red rosette food of Storrs Hall, using the College culinary team as their restaurant team and kitchen brigade.

This opportunity to attend these exciting events will cost only £50 per person for dinner at both venues. To secure your place call Storrs Hall on 015394 47111.

Whilst we can only take payment as a single booking for both nights, places are transferable, so if you can’t make both nights you are welcome to offer a place on one of the nights to a friend, relative or loved one.