Grundfos team meets special guests as part of team day

Castletown-based pump manufacturer Grundfos spent a day of business updates and team bonding at the home of the Black Cats and had a very special surprise visitor – 1973 FA Cup winning captain Bobby Kerr.

Another visitor who met the 180 attendees was South Shields’ Olympic swimming gold medallist Chris Cook.

Catherine Attwell, Head of Country and Plant HR, UK, for Grundfos, said: “We had a busy but enjoyable day at the Stadium.

“Chris gave an inspirational keynote talk, called Two Lengths of the Pool, which was all about keeping things simple, controlling the controllables and the sacrifices he had to make to be a successful athlete.

“What he said really hit home for a lot of people.”

The Grundfos team had started the day with a challenge – to pump up as many footballs as they could manage. Some of the inflated balls will be going to Portland Academy, with whom Grundfos has a longstanding relationship.

Other footballs are going to the Fans’ Museum in Sunderland, who’s founder Michael Ganley also spoke to the Grundfos team on the day, and gave them a task – to help create 500 dementia boxes which will be distributed to care homes, hospitals and hospices. The dementia boxes aim to spark happy memories for those living with dementia.

Michael said: “We had four workshops going, all working to help create our dementia boxes. The first workshop was sorting football programmes for the boxes – they can trigger some very happy memories of first games attended or going to a match with specific friends or family.

“The second workshop looked at understanding design and technology used in football – from modern strips to football boots. During this session people looked at hundreds of strips I took along, as well as old and new football boots.

“The third workshop looked at photography and football, and we had pictures taken of everyone individually with the FA Cup and the Women’s Premier League Cup, while the fourth workshop looked at how the other three workshops fitted together.

“Throughout the sessions people talked about relations and friends living with dementia and they could see how our dementia boxes could help.”

Former SAFC captain Bobby Kerr is a big friend of Michael, and he was only too happy to attend the day and have his picture taken with members of the Grundfos team.

Catherine added: “We didn’t know Bobby was coming, so it was a big surprise and everyone enjoyed meeting him. We also really enjoyed having Michael with us – as well as his workshops he set up a mini Fans’ Museum in the Players’ Lounge and everyone had a good look at the shirts worn by people like David Beckham and Gazza.”

Feedback for the day, facilitated by John Grant at Weightman Associates, has been universally positive.

Catherine said: “Volunteering is part of our DNA at Grundfos and we enjoyed the opportunity to help this the Fans Museum with its dementia boxes. We hope to send more people to volunteer with Michael.

“People have been saying how much they enjoyed the day, and how much they were inspired by the sessions with Chris and Michael. The talk from Chris was particularly timely, as this year we’re sending a team to the Grundfos Olympics.”

The games are held every four years in the Danish town of Bjerringbro where Grundfos employees from more than 50 countries around the world descend to take part in a range of sports.

Grundfos first opened a plant in Washington in 1973, before moving to its current Castletown site in 1980. The company now employs about 160 people in the city and more than 19,000 people globally – making it the world’s leading pump manufacturer.