Welcome and thank you for volunteering to be part of our Challenge programme! Whether you're supporting our Summer or Festive Challenge programme, you'll find everything you need to know right here...
Welcome!
Challenge booked - what next?
Time to rally round the troops
Project purchases
All things Health and Safety
Sharing your experience
T-shirt and caps
All Challenge forms
Your ZCT contacts
Welcome and thank you for putting yourself forward to lead your team of challengers!
This toolkit will cover absolutely anything and everything you need to know to ensure a safe and successful challenge!
Your challenge is booked -
so what next?
Contact the charity to discuss their proposed project. Agree a plan of action and a date to deliver the challenge that's convenient for both their needs and your team.
Rally your Challenge troops!
Get together with your fellow team members and agree roles and responsibilities. Where possible we recommend splitting jobs into bite size chunks and sharing between everyone in the team.
Project purchases & reimbursement
Sustainable Sourcing
As a funder focused on sustainability, we’re asking our volunteers to be mindful about how they go about preparing for their challenge, whether it’s getting to the venue on the day or sourcing goods and / or services to carry out your challenge. The most ethical way to plan and source is to first ask yourself what you really need to fulfil your brief and then keep sustainability at the forefront of your mind.
For example,
• if you are taking part in an on-site challenge, how are you and your team getting to the venue? Is it possible to car share, or can you get to and from the event, safely, using public transport?
• If you need tools to carry out your challenge, can you use your own, borrow or rent? If you need to buy goods, are those goods sustainably made? If appropriate, only buy goods that will last much longer than the event itself and, where possible, avoid purchasing single use plastic - around 5 million tonnes of plastic are used each year in the UK. That's 12.5 million dumpsters filled to the brim!
Plastic also makes up 80% of all marine debris found in our surface waters to the deep-sea. Marine species can ingest or get entangled in plastic debris, which causes severe injuries and death. You can find out more about plastic pollution here: Ocean Plastics Pollution (biologicaldiversity.org)
• When shopping for beneficiaries, work with the charity to consider what gifts will most likely benefit them and then try to establish how you can source the items to limit any harm to our planet.
• You may also want to research the sustainability practices of the brand you’ve chosen. You can search brands using the Ethical Consumer website: Friends of the Earth member, welcome to Ethical Consumer | Ethical Consumer.
• Whether you’re taking part in Challenge during the Summer or Winter months, here are some things you may like to consider:
Summer Challenge
Gifts & Services
When sourcing gifts and services, if possible, try to shop local. When you buy locally it means that you minimize the transportation pollution and costs associated with delivering your goods or services.
If that’s not practicable, there are a number of sustainable online suppliers to choose from and third-party certification is usually the best way of determining whether a product is environmentally friendly.
Look out for respected eco-friendly logo’s such as Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, Scientific Certification Systems (SCS), Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Energy Star and Palm Oil Free. For some inspiration, check out goods available through Good Things, The Ethical Superstore, Veo World and Protect the Planet.
You can also find further hints and tips by going to the Go Green@Home SharePoint site on the intranet which showcases green, sustainable products, many of which are available to Zurich employees to purchase at a discount: GoGreen@Home - Home (sharepoint.com)
Can you also maximise your impact for good? For example, can you source your goods or services from a charity, community interest company or social enterprise and help more than one charitable organisation? For inspiration, check out the Social Enterprise Directory from Social Enterprise UK.
Festive Challenge
Christmas Trees
A “Tree [is] for Life – not just for Christmas”. The Woodland Trust says the most environmentally friendly Christmas tree is one with roots, which can be planted in the garden and brought in for next year. If you are buying a felled tree for your charity, please check it’s got an accreditation from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or the Soil Association, which tells you that it has been grown sustainably and ethically.
Another option is to rent a tree for your challenge – a rented tree is then replanted by the supplier during the year. All across the UK garden centres and plant nurseries are now offering this service. They’ll often deliver and collect the tree to save you the hassle and the tree can then carry on growing after its return. One scheme – Rental Claus from the Primrose Vale Farm Shop in Cheltenham – delivers and collects the tree, with prices starting at £15-£45.
Wrapping Paper
According to the Soil Association “It’s estimated that each year in Britain, we throw away enough wrapping paper to circle the globe 9 times!”. Piles of wrapping paper, often with glitter, foil or containing plastic are not recyclable, so please keep an eye on what wrapping paper, ribbon and bows which can be recycled and / or have multiple use. Where possible, choose mono materials, which are products only composed of a single material type, as they are typically easier to recycle than products made from different materials. Perhaps you may want to consider purchasing fabric wrapping paper or reusable boxes that can then be used to store any decorations for next year. If it’s not clear whether your wrapping paper can be recycled, use the scrunch test. Simply scrunch up the paper and then let it go. If the paper stays scrunched up then it can be recycled, however, if it unfolds on its own accord, it likely contains non-recyclable elements. If you have the budget available and can opt for the most environmentally friendly option, why not buy tissue paper or gift tags with seeds embedded, which can then be planted in the garden. For further hints and tips on sustainable wrapping, check out these articles from Reduce Reuse Recycle and the Woodland Trust.
Christmas Lights
If you are purchasing Christmas twinkle lights, opt for LED lights. According to Country Living, “If every UK household swapped a string of incandescent lights for its LED equivalent, we could save more than £11 million and 29,000 tonnes of CO2, just over the 12 days of Christmas… LEDs are far better than traditional twinkling incandescent lights, because they use up to 80% less energy”.
Glitter
Whilst it may look very pretty, glitter is difficult to recycle and can escape polluting the environment. If your charity wants a bit of sparkle, opt for plant-based, vegan glitter like that from Eco Glitter Fun. All of their biodegradable glitter comes in glass bottles and packaging is made from recycled cardboard, shredded newspaper, and paper packing tape.
For further hints and tips on how to have a sustainable Christmas, please check out this article from “Sustainability for All”.
After your Challenge, we’d love to hear more about your efforts in creating a more sustainable challenge – whether it’s using the services of a local social enterprise or buying sustainable goods online – please do let us know what you got up to so we can share your knowledge and help future challenge teams become more sustainable too.
Your designated Challenge Administrators
Cheryl Evans
Belfast, Birmingham, Brighton, Chichester, Croydon, Farnborough, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Manchester, Newcastle and Whiteley.
Marie Jones
Bristol, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Chipping Norton and Swindon.
Payment Request Form
Top saving tips!
All things health and safety
Before you roll up your challenge t-shirt sleeves and prepare to get your hands well and truly dirty, we need to make sure you do this as safely as possible, with as little/no risk to you or your team’s health.To ensure this happens, please read through and action the below list of 'must dos', in advance of your challenge delivery date.
Health and Safety guidelines
For all challenges you will need to conduct a Health and Safety Risk Assessment Form. It is best to do this in conjunction with the charity so that you can be certain all eventualities are covered and allowed for.
- If you are likely to include any under 18s as part of your team, it is vital that you include this as part of your risk assessment. Please also check with your ZCT Challenge Rep to ensure appropriate controls are in place.
- Before commencing your challenge, ask the charity you are working with for the procedures they follow in the event of fire or other emergency.
- If your challenge involves being exposed to soil or fresh water sources, or coming into contact with animals, please read the following. Leptospirosis (Weil's disease) >
- Use our Health and Safety Support Guidance to help establish those risks that are not always so obvious!
Each and every team member needs to complete a Medical Information Sheet. These need to be taken with you (the Team Leader) to the challenge site on the day, to refer to in an emergency.
If you have any concerns prior to your challenge, please discuss these with your Health & Safety Officer and ensure that special arrangements are made to protect anyone with a relevant condition. Once your challenge has been completed, please ensure these records are disposed of in a confidential waste bin.
Your Health and Safety officer:
Food Safety
If your challenge involves any type of food handling or preparation, please read the Food Preparation Guidelines and Food Hygiene Guidelines before you start to plan the event. At least one member of your challenge team is required to complete the online Food Safety Course below.
This incurs a small fee of £18, which will need to be factored in to the overall challenge costs.
Food Safety Course >
Details of Certification
This course is also assured by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents through their RoSPA Qualifications Assurance System, as providing up-to-date, quality and content-approved training.
Additionally, this course is endorsed by the Institute of Hospitality as providing independently-evaluated, quality content that teaches good practice standards.
On successful completion of the course you will be sent a quality assured certificate through the post the next working day. This can be used to provide evidence for compliance and audit.
This certificate does not have an expiry date. However, based on industry best practice guidelines, the recommended renewal period for this training is 3 years. We will print this recommended renewal date on your certificate.
Natasha's Law
From 1 October 2021, 'Natasha's Law' changed the requirements for prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) food labelling in Wales, England, and Northern Ireland. This labelling helps protect consumers by providing potentially life-saving allergen information on the packaging. Learn more here >
What's covered and what's not!
- If you are responsible for causing damage to third party property or injury to third parties during the delivery of your project, in the vast majority of instances you will be covered by Zurich’s public liability cover. There are certain exceptions to this for higher risk events e.g. dangerous sports, aviation and marine related activities, etc. If the organisation you are working with asks to see confirmation of Zurich's public liability cover and limit of indemnity, please contact your Challenge Rep.
- Personal accident cover is not provided for, although normal sickness entitlement applies for Zurich employees. Additionally, WPA health cover may apply dependant upon your contract of employment and/or flexible benefits chosen options.
- Please be aware that any personal belongings taken with you throughout the duration of your challenge project will be your responsibility and are taken at your own risk.
- It is strongly recommended that you check with your own car insurer that your existing car insurance cover extends to cover the usage in connection with Challenge if you intend using your car to carry out part of the challenge. Please also note: Any petrol costs incurred throughout the delivery of your challenge can not be reimbursed using funds available through your charity challenge.
Why it’s important
Zurich Community Trust works in partnership with a wide range of community and voluntary organisations on a diverse range of issues right across the UK with the aim of improving the lives of people during times of vulnerability
We are committed to keeping the welfare of any child or vulnerable adult who is involved with any of our activities paramount and to ensuring that everyone who we engage with is valued, listened to and respected.
Everyone engaging with the Trust’s activities is responsible for ensuring that children and vulnerable adults are safe, and when working with them, we must remember we are acting in positions of trust. Please take time to watch our Safeguarding video, which outlines the best practices you should follow when volunteering with children and vulnerable adults.
As part of ZCT's commitment to safeguarding, all employees are required to complete the annual mandatory Safeguarding Training Module. If it's been over 12 months since any member of your challenge team have completed this, they must complete it again before undertaking your challenge project.
Safeguarding Training Module >
If you're unable to access the link above, here's a PDF version.
Share your Challenge experience
- Tell us how you made it happen! We want your stories, quotes, pics, sound bites and video clips... and if you have any other way you’d like to showcase the amazing work you’ve done... we want to see that too! (Remember, we need permission from all those featured in media you plan to share - see photography section below)
- If you haven’t already, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube and Workplace. When sharing a post, remember to tag yourself in so all your followers know about the incredible work you’ve done. We look forward to hearing, and seeing, how you and your team have helped to make a difference in your communities this Challenge season!
External press coverage:
If you and your team are keen to share your Challenge story externally, please email Rachel Beddis, ZCT's Marketing and Communications Manager, who will liaise with Zurich’s Press Office. For any Capita challenge stories, please contact the Capita media team. Please note that Zurich's media policy requests that you do not speak directly to the press. It will be the ZCT’s responsibility to work directly with Zurich’s media office –Thank you.
Photography
Please make sure you ask all participants captured in any media you wish to share, to sign a consent form. Email this to your ZCT representative (contacts listed in section 9), so we have a record of their permission. This applies to all participants and all age groups, whether they are your colleagues in Zurich, the volunteers/employees from the charity, or their beneficiaries. Finally, have a read through our Photography & Filming Guidance and then you're free to grab your phone and start snapping or filming!
IMPORTANT - remember to share your volunteering hours with us!
We're tremendously proud to benefit from such a community focused workforce, and we want to be able share the amazing amount of time you give to supporting your local charities. So, with that in mind, can we ask each member of your challenge team to record their volunteering hours through MyImpact, and if you can provide a collective number of hours in your post-challenge survey, we'd be extremely grateful. Thank you!
T-shirts and caps!
Help us reduce our carbon footprint!
Help us make this Challenge season our most environmentally friendly one yet, and re-use one of your Challenge t-shirts from a previous year.
However, if they've all been left unrecognisable after being plastered in paint or holed by hedgerows, please feel free to order a new one.
Who to get in touch with to order new Tees!
Please note, we require at least one weeks notice for all t-shirt requests.
Mark Flay = Bristol, Cardiff, Chipping Norton, Cheltenham and Swindon
Lisa Walsh = Brighton, Chichester, Croydon, Farnborough, London, and Whiteley
Ben Wainman = Belfast, Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, and Newcastle
Forms, Forms and Forms!
Here's a reminder of your location contacts
And last, but not least
...have fun!