Member Article

Grundfos goes green for Halloween

ONE OF Sunderland’s largest employers combined ‘going green’ with a Halloween themed charity fundraiser.

Castletown-based pump manufacturer Grundfos encouraged staff to dress up to mark October 31, but at the same time used the celebration to raise money for the NSPCC while reminding workers to ‘power down’ their PCs and TVs.

Janette Ede, Senior EHS Specialist at Grundfos, explained a raffle had helped raise money for the children’s charity’s work in Sunderland. Prizes included a day off work and football tickets donated by supplier MB Air Systems, a company that has been helping Grundfos reduce its energy use.

Anthony Shields, Sales Manager for MB Air Systems, said: “Over the years, mb air systems and Grundfos have built up an excellent working relationship where we have worked with the environmental team to reduce the company’s energy and operational costs.

“Janette’s enthusiasm is unrivalled and likewise when it comes to helping raise money for charities, this is why it was a given that we would join her and the rest of Grundos in supporting such a fantastic charity like NSPCC.’’

Janette added that the drive to go green had worked, with 88 per cent of members of staff turning their machines off. “If they did, we left them a Halloween treat, if they didn’t we left them with a Halloween curse,” explained Janette.

Grundfos staff chose the NSPCC as the company’s charity for 2015 and aim to raise £6,000 for the NSPCC’s work in Sunderland. A recent Coast to Coast raised more than £4,000 towards the target.

Lyndsey Green, HR and Training Officer at Grundfos, said staff had enjoyed the day, employees’ children had been able to join in the fun by taking part in a colouring-in competition.

Grundfos, a Danish company, is the world’s leading pump manufacturer and employs 185 people in Sunderland. It opened a Washington plant in 1973 and moved to its current Castletown site in the early 1980s.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Grundfos .