Self Storage Blog
Big Yellow Chelmsford add a touch of colour to Farleigh Hospice’s summer.
A team from Big Yellow gave up their free time this month to help out the Farleigh Hospice in Chelmsford with some DIY painting. Matt, Dave, George, Hayley and Samantha set to work painting the walls in the hospice’s private gardens. These tranquil areas are hugely important to the hospice, providing a welcoming and peaceful place for people to visit.
The Farleigh Hospice is one of Big Yellow’s chosen charities which provides hospice care to people affected by life limiting illnesses across mid Essex. Since being established in 1982, the hospice and its team of healthcare professionals has grown and evolved to meet the needs of the community it serves.
Find out more about the charity here www.farleighhospice.org
Big Yellow Swindon get on their bikes in aid of Cystic Fibrosis
The team at Big Yellow Swindon recently took on the challenge of cycling the distance from London to Paris in aid of Cystic Fibrosis…on exercise bikes!
Mark, James and Gemma, along with Jon, Anthony and Justin from removal company, Robbins Removals, joined forces to cycle a staggering 212 miles between them. The feat was supported by Fit 4 Less who kindly donated two exercise bikes for the team to complete their challenge.
All six participants are hugely proud of completing their bike ride in just 16 hours and 40 minutes and have raised over £800 for Cystic Fibrosis.
Cystic Fibrosis is one of the UK’s most common life-threatening inherited diseases with over 9,000 people in the UK affected.
Big Yellow Watford Push it for The Peace Hospice
The Big Yellow team in Watford are in strict training after entering “Push it for Peace,” a five mile obstacle course in aid of The Peace Hospice. The challenge sees participants climbing and crawling through a series of obstacles in Cassiobury Park, Watford, the muddiest course in Hertfordshire.
The Peace Hospice cares for people across South West Hertfordshire living with life-limiting or terminal illnesses and provides support for their families. They offer care, outpatient and family services, therapy and a hospice-at-home service.
Each year The Peace Hospice aims is to raise £3.8 million in order to run and develop their services, which is free to patients and families.
With the support of Big Yellow customers the team are keen to help the charity reach their target, led by the area charity co-ordinator, Nikki.
You can make a donation at the Just Giving page.
Big Yellow and The Southwark Tigers visit the House of Lords
Big Yellow is proud sponsor of the Southwark Tigers, the first inner city rugby club for young people in England.
On the 10th April, we were lucky enough to be invited to the House of Lords, where Lord Tim Clement-Jones held a reception for some of the players, parents and sponsors, thanking them for all the work they do for the club.
The founder of the Southwark Tigers, Vernon Neve-Dunn, says: “Our parents were pleased to be recognised for the work that they do for the club. And it was great for me to be able to thank your company personally.” The children also performed the ‘Tigers Haka’, a dance they want to do pre-match.
For more information about the Southwark Tigers click here.
Armadillo Hull scores with North Ferriby United
The team at Armadillo Hull has always been big on sport. So when John Colley spotted an appeal for sponsors from the chairman of North Ferriby United, he knew he wanted to do something to help. John felt particularly strongly about backing the team as he knew that all sponsorship revenue would be put towards supporting the community club, rather than individual players.
Enlisting the backing of his colleagues at Armadillo, the business dug deep and got behind their home team by sponsoring six match balls. Armadillo’s support has contributed to both the men’s and women’s teams from the Under 7’s, right up to the seniors.
North Ferriby’s First Team is currently sitting top of the Evo-Stick North League and if they achieve promotion this season, it’ll be their highest position in team history.
John Colley says: “As a local business it’s important for us to be supporting local causes and as an avid footie fan, I was immediately drawn to North Ferriby. The team had really struggled for sponsorship after a flurry of businesses withdrew their support, but now they are storming ahead in the table this season.”
Armadillo Self Storage Hull kick cancer into touch
Armadillo Self Storage in Hull, held a rugby league match last month in aid of helping Jasmine Jones, a local girl diagnosed with cancer.
The game was held to raise money for the ongoing medical and transport costs Jasmine needs to get the best treatment for her condition. It was between the Great Britain All Stars and a local Hull select team. The Great Britain All Stars team were coached by Rugby League legend Andy Gregory (ex Wigan and GB Captain), and was captained by Paul Newlove who is another ex Great Britain player.
Organised by Life For a Kid, a charity that has been supported by Armadillo Self storage, the charity activity raised a fantastic £1,500 in total with Armadillo donating £50 towards the match.
Every year, Armadillo Self Storage gives free space to Life For a Kid amounting to £1,794. John Colley, from the Armadillo Hull branch, gives regular donations to the charity so for this Dean Hoggard (Life For a Kid founder) agreed to put the Armadillo Self Storage logo on the GB All Stars rugby league shirts as this is a team who play up and down the country raising money for Life For a Kid.
Life for a Kid is a charity that helps children and their families that have been affected by serious illness. More information can be found at their website. The founder, Dean, said “Help from John Colley and Armadillo is priceless for the Life for a Kid charity and a big thank you to John for his continued support”.
Big Yellow Self Storage’s Guide to Going Green
Environmental responsibility and rising energy costs have dominated the headlines in recent years with an increased movement towards ‘going green’ and ‘tightening our belts’.
Reducing our energy consumption increases our contribution to greener living while also helping us save pounds. Here at Big Yellow Self Storage we have compiled a simple guide so that each and every one of us can have a greener existence at home, at work and even on the commute.
Going Green at Home
We’re all reasonably good at recycling our glass bottles, old newspapers and ink cartridges but have you ever thought about recycling for example, your old trainers?
You might also be surprised to know that batteries, mobile phones, engine oil and even paint are all recyclable items.
Beyond recycling we can also actively reduce our carbon footprint by switching to energy saving light bulbs, turning off electrical items we are not using and becoming more self-sufficient.
Many of us are guilty of leaving our televisions, laptops and kitchen appliances on standby, however a recent survey by the Energy Saving Trust has revealed that we can save up to £86 annually by making sure that all electrical items are unplugged. With this in mind, it’s definitely worth trying to get into the routine of checking plugs before going to bed at night.
With rising energy costs it has also become important to consider an appliance’s energy efficiency before purchase. The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) are planning to introduce a product labeling trial next year which will show the lifetime running costs of common household appliances helping us be more energy efficient and eco conscious.
Did you know one third of the 150 litres of water used by the average Brit daily is wasted? You could help reduce how much water you waste every day by thinking about using a watering can instead of the hose while watering your garden and how about installing a dual flush toilet? Dual flush toilets conserve water by offering users a choice of flushes and by handling waste differently from conventional loos.
By doing something as simple as turning the tap off whilst brushing our teeth or manually washing the dishes instead of using the dishwasher can also have a big impact on reducing the amount of water we waste daily.
Insulating your home is also a great way of making life a little greener. Statistics from the Energy Saving Trust (EST) suggest that home owners can save up to £310 a year in heating bills by getting their loft and cavity walls insulated. Insulation increases our environmental contribution as we need to use less fuel and energy to heat our homes.
Going Green at Work
How many of us honestly shut our computer down at the end of the working day?
A study in 2007 revealed that 30% of corporate computers are not turned off overnight generating 14.4 million metric tons of CO2 emissions. While leaving non essential appliances like fax machines and printers on overnight in the office wastes enough energy to fuel a small car for 100 miles. That is almost the equivalent of three hour return journey from Buckingham Palace to Brighton Pier (106 miles).
Interestingly research also suggests that one ton of office paper (enough to cover the workload of 10 to 15 employees) requires 17 trees to be demolished. Therefore we all need to make sure our office appliances take a power nap at night and we all do our bit to reduce, reuse and recycle in the office.
Going Green on the Commute
Do you currently drive to work? Have you considered who lives nearby to you in the office? There may even be someone who works in the office next door. Could you share a lift with them or devise a rota where you take it in turns to drive (and share the cost of fuel)?
Liftshare is a website dedicated to this very cause inviting you to submit your home and work address in a bid to connect you with those undertaking a similar commute. Go on, get friendly as well as eco-friendly; you might even save yourself some money.
Using public transport, riding a bicycle or walking to work is also widely regarded as an environmentally friendly alternative to the traditional commute.
Big Yellow Going Green
The Big Yellow Storage Company have increased their renewable energy generation by 11.5% in the past year alone while the installation of motion sensor lighting, rain water harvesting and green roof insulation have helped us keep our footprints green (not yellow!).
We are delighted to be the only storage company to feature in the 2011 Sunday Times Best Green Companies list and were recognised in the sustainable development category in the 2012 Queen’s Awards for Enterprise .
Explore more of this site to discover how Big Yellow Self Storage could offer you the right eco-friendly storage solutions without the massive price tag. Get a storage quote
Dr Aric Sigman’s Top Tips for Christmas
Christmas can be a stressful time. Buying presents, preparing the festive dinner…and now BYSS research has shown that one fifth of women are dreading the Christmas gatherings as they worry about the size, look and comfort of their home when entertaining and accommodating friends and family.
To help get through the festive period, Dr Aric Sigman gives us his top tips:
• Remind Yourself of what Christmas is actually celebrating. Then ask yourself: what would the original ‘birthday boy’ think of today’s stressed-out version of Christmas? It might be something like: ‘What have you done to my birthday?’
• Set Christmas priorities. Uninterrupted time together can be the very best present for families – especially children. Bonding time, catching up time and casual fun should take precedence over Christmas trappings and present-buying frenzy. Everything we do at Christmas should help this process along not detract from it
• Put your expectations through a reality check. It is clear that for many people they are not realistic. Christmas is not a performance like a Christmas play and things often will not go perfectly to plan
• Delegate and outsource. Women should think about what Christmas chores and responsibilities they can realistically and fairly off-load to partners and children. Although many women want to do the cooking from scratch, think about cooking shortcuts or what can be bought/prepared in advance
• Limit drink. Too much alcohol is sometimes called ‘Firewater’ or ‘The Devil’s Buttermilk’ for good reason. Being thrown together for 3 days indoors may be a bit much for many, and getting drunk on top of this can loosen tongues in the worst of ways. If you suspect someone is likely to have an outburst or is habouring less than loving thoughts towards their Mother-in-law think twice about offering them repeated top-ups
• Turn off your technology. Christmas is downtime for families and society, and should be about the here and now with the people we care about. Leave the Smartphones and tablet computers off. Christmas day is about eye-to-eye not i to i
• Don’t run on empty. In the run up to Christmas, too many parties, frequent late nights and work demands leave many women exhausted long before the 25th arrives. Sleep-deprivation that becomes cumulative during December renders people less able to cope physically and emotionally and therefore less able to enjoy the celebrations. Wherever possible choose rest over less-than-necessary Christmas preparations or parties. Get as much sleep as you can get away with on Christmas Eve
Big Yellow supports Operation Orphan in the ‘Keep a Child Warm’ winter project
The Nottingham Big Yellow Self Storage team are proud to be supporting Operation Orphan’s ‘Keep a Child Warm’ project this winter.
This amazing charity has been improving the lives of children in Europe, Asia and Africa by collecting unwanted items and giving essential packages to them for the tough winter months. The charity was designed to help create a brighter future for orphans and vulnerable children, for whom education, employment and a decent standard of living are simply out of reach.
Their projects aim to tackle major issues including: extreme poverty, harsh winter condition, human trafficking, HIV/AIDS, education, health, clean water and safe sanitation. The essential kits which they’re providing through their ‘Keep a Child Warm’ project include:
- A coat
- A scarf
- A pair of gloves
- A hat
- A pair of thick warm socks
- A fleece blanket
Our Nottingham store is honored to be helping such a great cause. Click here For more information about the ‘Keep a Child Warm’ project and to learn what you can do to help a child this winter. You can also see some of the hard work they do here.
Big Yellow Push it for The Peace
On the 23rd September nine members of the Big Yellow team took part in a five mile assault style obstacle course through Cassiobury Park in Watford.
Nikki Wilson, Scott Gosbell, Gino Cacioppo, Neil Anderson, Darren Naylor, Aqua Koroma, Charlotte Robertson, Kyle Gower and Farayi O’Connor and their friends braved the freezing cold water pools, monkey bars, cargo nets and of course the mud in order to raise money and awareness for the Peace Hospice.
The Peace Hospice cares for people living with life limiting or terminal illnesses and supports their families from across South West Hertfordshire. They provide care, outpatient services, therapy, family services and a hospice at home service.
Each year their aim is to raise £3.8 million of charitable income in order to run and develop their services while all the care offered to patients and their families is free.
There was a great turn out on the day with over 550 people taking part. The event itself raised just over £30,000. Keep up the good work, we’re proud to be part of it.
Live locally? To sign up for 2013’s event click here.
