Blue Skies News

October Newsletter now available for download

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:39:03 GMT

The October edition of the Blue Skies Newsletter 'Pelican News' is now available to download from our website.

Pelican News is a monthly newsletter written by our staff, for our staff, about what's happening at each of our sites.

To download Pelican News, click here.

Export Award for Ghana

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:39:03 GMT

Blue Skies Ghana has won the Silver Awards for export from the Ghana Exports Promotion Council (GEPC). The ceremony was held on Saturday the 11th of October and was attended by Mawunyo, Amel and Shakespeare.

Audit successes for factories

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:39:03 GMT

Congratulations to Blue Skies Egypt on achieving Grade A for BRC and 99.47% at Higher Level for IFC. The audit was carried out by John Currie from CMI. Congratulations also to Blue Skies Ghana on achieving grade A for BRC and 99.79% for IFS. The auditor described the IFC result as one of the highest ever. Group Technical manager, Stephan Morris said, "Against a totally new BRC standard that the auditor said was causing many problems for those who were unprepared, this is a result that makes me even prouder of our people in Ghana and Egypt! All our customers will be happy."

UK Dares to Wear it Pink!

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:39:03 GMT

The UK office took part in the Dare to Wear it Pink day on Friday the 31st of October to raise money for Breast Cancer Campaign. Staff paid a few pounds to wear pink clothes for the day in aid of the charity, which has so far raised over �9.7 million to help fund research in to cancer diagnosis, treatment, prevention and cure. Between nine people (all pictured above), the office managed to raise an impressive �50. Thanks to everyone who took part in contributing to this very worthwhile cause.

A Story From The Soccer Boys

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:39:03 GMT

We are a bunch of youths, from different backgrounds to some extend cultures. But what brings us together is our love of soccer; we are so passionate about soccer. To some of us soccer is our hobby, to some of us that is where we distress ourselves from things that happen at homes and schools etc. however many of us never knew that our love for soccer will have prevented us from different bad things like doing drugs and crime. More importantly we even want go to professional level or even produce professional players, but to some this is only a dream unattained due to lack of resources. Some players are from the disadvantage backgrounds, they can't afford soccer boots, even in our team we have 30+ guys yet we have only one soccer ball. But that doesn't stop us from enjoying playing soccer. But we keep hoping that our township will develop and help young people, because if one wants to keep young people from crime, drugs etc give them something to focus on, in this case soccer. About the Kids Siyathemba is fairly a small township, we have 3 primary schools and 2 high schools. Kids don't have anything to look for after school like there are no recreational facilities where kids can go to play. Recently the Gold mine donated 3 swings, 1 slide and 1 small merry-go-round, that's very awesome but it's too small. You get like 300-500 kids trying to have turns and the place is next to the street, there are no humps and there is no one to monitor these kids (one other kid broke his arm because there were so many of them trying to have turns), but we keep hoping for the best hence we hope companies like blue skies, gold mine and Eskom will contribute to the development of our township. The biggest need in our township is recreational facilities not too forgetting employment. By Waydu Nhlapo, Blue Skies South Africa

September Newsletter now available for download

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 13:09:58 GMT

The September edition of the Blue Skies Newsletter 'Pelican News' is now available to download from our website.

Pelican News is a monthly newsletter written by our staff, for our staff, about what's happening at each of our sites.

To download Pelican News, click here.

Blue Skies presented with Queens Award

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:09:58 GMT

Blue Skies has been formally presented with a Queen's Award for Enterprise for its contribution to Sustainable Development.

The award was presented by the Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire, Lady Juliet Townsend LVO at a champagne reception at the company's headquarters in Pitsford on Friday 19th of September. The event was attended by special guests including the Mayor of Northampton, Councillor Brian Markham and the Member of Parliament for Kettering, Philip Hollobone.

The company, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, is recognised as a leading model for development in Africa. Lady Juliet said "Blue Skies is an excellent example of a company doing a lot of good in Africa by trading fairly. This award is well deserved and I wish the company every success for the future."

August Newsletter now available for download

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 14:09:18 GMT

The August edition of the Blue Skies Newsletter 'Pelican News' is now available to download from our website.

Pelican News is a monthly newsletter written by our staff, for our staff, about what's happening at each of our sites.

To download Pelican News, click here.

Blue Skies publishes Sustainability Charter

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 12:55:35 GMT

Blue Skies has published a sustainability charter which sets out how the company is committed to working within the principles of sustainable development and operating to a policy of social, environmental and economic responsibility.

The Charter is intended to strengthen the company's focus on its core values whilst also recognising the guidelines of organisations such as the United Nations, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Ethical Trading Initiative. It also reflects the responsible sourcing codes of customers and the standards of partners such as the Soil Association, Fairtrade and the Business Social Compliance Initiative.

To ensure that Blue Skies conform to the commitments set out in the charter, the Sustainability Committee are introducing a management system which will consist of a set of guidelines known as a 'Code of Practice', a checklist to ensure that the business is regularly audited and a monitoring and reporting procedure so that it can openly share information with all its stakeholders about how the company is performing.

A representative of the Sustainability Committee commented that "It is the responsibility of not only management but everyone at Blue Skies, including our suppliers, to ensure that the commitments of our charter are met."

The charter is too long to publish here, but you can download a copy from our website at www.bsholdings.com/charter.pdf. If you have any questions about the charter or would like to discuss any area of concern in confidence, please email denzil@blueskiesproducts.co.uk

July Newsletter now available for download

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:10:53 GMT

The July edition of the Blue Skies Newsletter 'Pelican News' is now available to download from our website.

Pelican News is a monthly newsletter written by our staff, for our staff, about what's happening at each of our sites.

To download Pelican News, click here.