Pfizer and Action for Sick Children
Three Hands’ first ever community-based learning programme was a 5-day skills development project which won a National Training Award.
Pfizer Scotland and Northern Ireland was looking for a challenging skills development project to support their ‘What is Possible?’ programme, an initiative intended to inspire outstanding performance by enabling people to take on seemingly impossible projects and achieve success through teamwork.
The charity Action for Sick Children (Scotland) uses brightly coloured playboxes full of toys that encourage children to role-play being in hospital, helping them to prepare for the trauma of a hospital stay. The charity was in need of funds to pay for and distribute their playboxes, as well as media coverage to raise awareness of their work – needs that Three Hands recognised could be addressed by the Pfizer team of 15 salespeople…
The team was given no advance warning of their task: to raise at least £7,500 to pay for 25 Hospital Playboxes; deliver them to 23 hospitals across Scotland and Northern Ireland by public transport; raise the public profile of the charity; carry out a survey at each hospital on behalf of the charity; present back to the charity and invited corporate guests on the last day on what they’d achieved – all in 5 days.
Key to this task was the ability to cope under high pressure as a team and solve complex problems. The team raised £20,000 for the charity, delivered all the Playboxes, gave 18 interviews to newspapers, radio and television on behalf of the charity and carried out surveys at each hospital. As a result of the project the charity’s core grant from the Scottish Executive was doubled and they secured record funding from the BBC Children in Need Appeal.
“This initiative allows training to come out of the classroom and be applied in a very real way. In developing team skills this way, the community, Pfizer and participants gain significant and long lasting benefits. It was a revelation to me.”
Stephen Oliver, Operations Manager, Pfizer Scotland and Northern Ireland
"We couldn’t have asked for better partners than Pfizer and Three Hands. The needs of the children and the charity were always put first and shared goals were established and never compromised. The Pfizer team amazed us and themselves, and the rewards for them and sick children across Scotland and Northern Ireland surpassed even the most ambitious expectations we could have had."
Lesley Clemenson, National Co-ordinator, Action for Sick Children (Scotland)