Employees of Barrhead Travel took full advantage of the UK’s heatwave by swapping their uniforms for summer attire.
As the weather reached record-breaking temperatures, particularly in Scotland where some areas experienced the hottest weather recorded in 125 years, Barrhead Travel allowed staff to spend the three hottest days in items such as shorts and flip-flops.
The Scottish agency chain used the occasion to raise money for its overseas charity partner, Just a Drop, with employees encouraged to donate £1 for dressing down.
Jacqueline Dobson, managing director at Barrhead Travel said: “The weather has been one of the biggest talking points over the past few weeks. With the sky-high temperatures, we decided to bring some of the summer fun back inside for our customers and most importantly, for our teams who were inside working hard with summer peaks in full swing.
“Getting into the holiday spirit comes naturally to us as travel agents. From Wednesday – Friday last week, our teams across all of our branches and offices donned the best of their summer wardrobes. Paddling pools popped up in various branches, the summer playlists were refreshed and ice-lollies were distributed to keep everyone cool. At head office in Glasgow, we even held some team meetings outside to make sure everyone got to enjoy the weather phenomenon.
“Aside from the fun-factor, it’s important that our teams are comfortable at work and when temperatures are as high as 32 degrees, it makes sense to swap out the usual uniforms and office-wear for something more suitable.”
Barrhead Travel raised more than £1,200 for international water charity Just a Drop during the ‘Summer Party’ and has pledged to match all customer donations during the month of July.
Dobson added: “As well as a boost to team morale, we were really thrilled to kick-start our new fundraising campaign for Just a Drop. Customers also appreciate when you do something different and we thoroughly enjoyed welcoming them into stores to join in the fun.”
Just a Drop, which brings safe water, sanitation and hygiene projects to communities around the globe, is Barrhead’s charity for 2018. This year, the agency is aiming to raise £26,000 for the Buwambo project in Uganda to help fund a health centre which serves a population of 40,000 people and offers services such as immunisation, some surgery and maternity, childbirth and antenatal care services.
Barrhead customers will be asked to consider donating 50p per person when booking their holiday with Barrhead matching donations made in July.
Chief executive Sharon Munro said: “Giving back to charities and our local communities is a huge part of life at Barrhead Travel.”
Brendan Hanlon, head of fundraising and communications at Just a Drop added: “Barrhead Travel’s commitment to triple their fundraising target and match all customer donations in July in order to deliver the Buwambo Health Centre project is really impressive and will completely transform the lives of 40,000 people in the community who rely on the health centre for their services.
“We’re hugely grateful for Barrhead Travel’s continued partnership with Just a Drop and for all of their fundraising efforts, which have already supported a safe water project at Songeni Primary in Kenya.”
Since Just a Drop started in 1998, its projects have reached more than 1.4million people in 32 countries across the globe.