CHALLENGES!

We are all challenged by different things, and sometimes the challenges of work can be so intense that a physical challenge is actually quite a good remedy to all the pressure.  It’s a well known fact that the chemicals that the body releases with hard physical exercise can have beneficial health outcomes… or so they say!  Well I’m about to find out.  For years my husband has been saying that he would really like to do the London Marathon.  My youngest son, Rob, ran it when he was at University, and my eldest, James, ran the New York Marathon four years ago, and two of my step sons are running half marathons this Spring.   So the challenge has been set –anything they can do ……. so can we!

We have also set ourselves another challenge – raising £5000 for Christian Aid.  Every year thousands of people run the London Marathon for charity and the amounts raised are quite staggering.   Our own personal church links and our very special link with Africa through my husband’s work has led us to choose Christian Aid as our charity.

We already have experience of walking long distances in our quest to climb all the Scottish Mountains over three thousand feet – the Munros.  We have stamina and determination but we recognise that we can’t actually ‘run’ the 26.2 miles – we aim to do a mixture of speed walking and some ‘jogging’.  Our time isn’t going to be record breaking but we will finish!

We have a ‘Just Giving’ page and if you can sponsor us we would be very grateful.  (http://original.justgiving.com/bryanandsandycoates ) I will let you know in the next newsletter how we get on – crazy yes, but worthwhile for those less fortunate, definitely Yes!

Thank you! Sandy

A CELEBRATION OF THE LIFE OF SAMANTHA VERSCHUEREN

On a very cold Saturday afternoon in late January Ruth and I had the great privilege of going to Salisbury Cathedral to Celebrate Sam’s life.  Sam had temped for White Knight on and off since March 2007 up until her very untimely death in August 2009.

As a recruitment business, one of the most important things for us is to get to know our temporary staff.  This begins at the interview stage and then the relationship builds up over a period of time.  We knew that Sam was a bright girl, a talented musician, and a good all rounder, but we had no idea that her musical gifts were quite so special.  On that cold afternoon we were warmed from the inside out; the tributes, the outstanding choirs, and the organ recital were spectacular and an amazing tribute to Sam.  Samantha really was a very special young lady and we were so lucky to know her.

Sam may be gone but the family have set up the Living Water Memorial Charity as her legacy.  Sam was a very committed Christian with a very strong faith and through her family and friends she will live on, helping those people in the world that do not have the basic necessity of clean water.  If you would like to find out more please visit the website http://www.verschueren.org.uk/livingwaterafrica/

Sandy
February 2010  

PAYROLL AND INVOICING REMINDERS

My working days are Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday so please forgive me if I don’t reply to your messages on days other than these!   I will respond as soon as I am next in.

We have found that the system of staff emailing me directly with holiday pay requests has been working very well and hopefully it has resulted in holiday being paid at the right time!  Please continue to email me and remember to cc Ruth or Richard in to your request.  Thanks for your help with this.

I am also happy to answer any queries related to pay or tax issues and will help out where I can.  One thing I would ask though is that you address all messages concerning your work placement to Ruth, Davina or Richard, for example to let us know if you cannot get to work for any reason.  As I am not in every day messages to me about this may not be read and dealt with straight away and it is obviously very important that we can contact you and your manager as soon as possible to deal with any queries.

From a client point of view any queries regarding invoices and statements should also be addressed to me and I will endeavour to deal with these promptly.

Regards Gill

NHS PASA DISBANDED

NHS PASA no longer exists; all its services have been merged into Buying Solutions, the national procurement partner for UK public services.

The new ‘Non Medical, Non Clinical Resources Framework’ was awarded from the 1st January 2010.   White Knight Recruitment is delighted to be part of this prestigious Framework Agreement.  The award process has been rigorous and lengthy but the benefits for both the NHS and White Knight are enormous.  The Framework ensures that value for money, efficiency, and professionalism are top priorities.  More information about the Framework and Buying Solution scan be found at www.buyingsolutions.gov.uk/services/ResourcingServices/nonmedicalnonclinical

If you have any questions regarding the Buying Solutions Non Medical, Non Clinical Resources Framework please don’t hesitate to call and we will do our very best to help.  Quality temporary staff can be a cost effective addition to your existing workforce, tailored to suit your particular needs for any given period.  We aim to work in partnership with you to get the best possible results for the NHS.

To make a booking please contact Ruth on 01962 841917 or  ruth@whiteknightrecruitment.com 

MORE APPLICATIONS THAN EVER

In this economic climate companies and recruitment agencies are all receiving a huge number of applications for every permanent vacancy.  Positions advertised on our website and a national advertising jobsite that we use, have been generating responses within minutes of going live!

This might sound like a dream from a recruitment point of view but in reality, handling all these enquiries is an incredibly time consuming exercise.  White Knight offers a comprehensive and professional selection procedure for an extremely competitive fee.  Following a thorough interview process we will select the best and most appropriate candidates for each vacancy.  Simple – we do the sifting, and then the Client makes the final selection.  Successful recruitment at a cost effective price!

For any permanent recruitment requirements please call us on (01962) 841917 or email richard@whiteknightrecruitment.com we would be delighted to help!

PAYSLIP AND TIMESHEET EMAIL MESSAGES

Every week White Knight sends timesheets and payslips via email.   As this is a recurring process you may not realise that the message attached to these changes occasionally. These often include very important messages and we urge you to read these so that you are aware of any significant changes.

We are celebrating! 

Following a rigorous selection and evaluation process White Knight Recruitment has been awarded a place on the Buying Solutions Framework for the supply of ‘Non Medical Non Clinical’ staff to the NHS and other public sector organisations.  Buying Solutions is the national procurement partner for UK public services and is an Executive Agency of the Office of Government commerce in the Treasury.

White Knight has been working successfully with the NHS since 1989.  This Framework Agreement enhances our already very strong relationship, and enables our Customers and Candidates to feel secure that we are operating a professional, best practice, and best value for money service.  Our registration and placement processes are very comprehensive; identity checks, occupational health checks, and legislative compliance are paramount to our success.

At this difficult economic time it is more important than ever that the NHS can deliver an efficient service without compromising quality.  There is a wide choice of suppliers on the Framework, with a mix of specialists and generalists, including small to medium sized enterprises, local and national.

White Knight is delighted to be part of this special group of companies.  We are changing and evolving all the time and look to the future with optimism and excitement!

White Knight Recruitment wish you a very Happy Christmas and best wishes for the New Year!

This year we have made a donation to Leukaemia Research on behalf of all White Knight Temps and Clients rather than sending cards and small gifts.  Not only is this an environmentally friendly gesture, but we hope that a donation to such a worthwhile cause will make a real difference. 

Thank you for all your support throughout 2009 and we look forward to working with you again next year. 

From Sandy, Richard, Ruth, Davina and Gill.

We want to say a really big than you to the White Knight temps who shared their wonderful experiences with us after going travelling this summer.

George Randall, Phil Chandler, Becki Godfrey and Tom Clay (in the photo below) had an action-packed 6 weeks in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos.

Some of their highlights were visiting the Angkor Wat temples in Cambodia, the Halong Bay tour in Vietnam (featured on the Top Gear Vietnam special) and tubing in Laos.

The photo shows the four when they went tubing along the Nam Song river. ‘Tubing’ involves floating along this river on a rubber ring, stopping at the bars to have a go at the rope swings, zip wires and mud volleyball.

Tom emailed us to say, “We would really like to thank White Knight for finding all of us work over the summer, the main source of funding for our trip. I hope that this helps inspire others what can be achieved by working and saving up over the holidays.”

We are proud to let everyone know that one of our Temporary Administrators, Anna Burrows, working at South Central Ambulance Service, was nominated for an award at The Ambies 09.  The event was held in Oxford on the 17 September. I am sure you are all asking yourselves, as we did, “What are ‘The Ambies’?”.

“With one vision and a harmonised set of values, we can celebrate staff dedication and commitment to the Trust through annual awards of recognition.

The AMBIES recognise and celebrate a motivated workforce that espouse our values and work towards excellence everyday. The Ambies recognised some of the best examples of dedication and personal commitment to our service and our patients. These Awards are to celebrate the immense pool of talent and initiative we have in the South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust and recognise achievement.”

Her colleagues nominated her for the Support Person of the year award.  Anna was one of 13 people nominated across Hampshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire for this category.

“Anna, on behalf of all at White Knight, and I am sure on behalf of the rest of the White Knight Team of Temps, we would just like to say well done for being nominated for the Support Person of the year award, and keep up the fantastic work you are doing!”, said Colleen, Anna’s Consultant at White Knight.

We would also like to say congratulations, as after working for ourselves over the years, since 2004, she has been offered a permanent position, which she accepted and started today!

This year the White Knight ‘Girls’ took part in Race for Life 2009 in memory of Ellen Free, who temped for us for 13 years. Sandy, Ruth, Colleen, Davina, Gill and Alex all took part in the 5k race along with Katy, Ellen’s daughter.   Charlie, Ellen’s husband came along to support us too.

The weather was mostly dry and sunny, with a light shower halfway through the race, which actually turned out to be quite refreshing! It was an emotional, but very uplifting event and it was certainly a wonderful way to remember Ellen, who actually ran Race for Life every year with Katy.  Over 9500 women took part – a truly amazing atmosphere.

So far we have raised £361 plus Gift Aid but it is not too late to donate, so if you would like to contribute to this great cause you can view the White Knight Online Sponsorship page at  www.whiteknightrecruitment.com.

A really big thank you to all of those people who have already donated to this fantastic cause, we are so grateful and really appreciate your support.

Richard, our company Director, completed the ‘3 Peaks Challenge’ this weekend.  In less than 24 hours Richard and 3 of his friends climbed Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon.

Starting in Scotland, the team began to climb Ben Nevis at 5.30pm on Saturday evening.  They reached the peak of Ben Nevis at 8pm and, after a short break at the top admiring the views (with celebratory sundowners!), they climbed down and drove to the Lake District where they started to climb Scafell Pike at 4.45am on Sunday morning.

The team finished Scafell Pike at 8.15am and drove to North Wales to begin climbing Snowdon at 12.45pm.  They reached the top of Snowdon at 2.45pm and returned to the base.  Their final time was 22 hours and 52 minutes.

“It was a truly fantastic experience and great fun” said Richard, “we are hugely grateful to our drivers Andy and Amanda for getting us safely between Scotland, England and Wales and for preparing all our food and drinks on the way!”

Although the team were not climbing as a sponsored event – they are making donations towards Cancer Research UK to celebrate the achievement.

Susan Fosh, a qualified IT Trainer, has been known to White Knight for many years.

Below are some examples of courses that she offers. If you’re interested in booking up for some training or you have specific requirements not included in listings below, do give Susan a call to discuss your requirements.

• Understanding Outlook
• Word Essentials
• Headers, Footers & Contents
• Creating Professional Documents using MS Office
• Tabs and Tables
• Mail Merge
• PowerPoint
• Excel Introduction
• Excel Formulas and Formatting
• Excel Charts & Graphs

If you think your IT skills could do with a bit of polishing, these courses can help.

Prices start at £50 for two hours.

Please call Susan Fosh ICTP on 07747 805641 or email spfosh@btinternet.com.