Inkfish Call Centre Slough supports Children in Need for fifth year in a row

Employees Man the Phones for Telethon Pledges

Inkfish Call Centre Slough once again volunteered its services to take phone donations and pledges on behalf of Children in Need 2004. Staff from Inkfish in Slough, as well as other employees from parent company Domestic & General, manned phone lines from 6.30pm to midnight on 19th November 2004 to accept public donations and pledges in support of the charity. Employees donated their time to ensure that suitable cover was available throughout this year's telethon, and friends and family also came along to help. 2004 marked the 25th anniversary of Children in Need. Inkfish Slough has donated lines and staff in support of the charity for five years now, and the event is a regular date on the company calendar. In 2003, the company answered 3,233 calls over the 5 ½ hours of the telethon, equating to over £100,000 of public donations. This year, that figure was smashed with over £150,000 taken in pledges and in donations (including one donation of £40,000).

Over 120 Inkfish employees and friends participated in the 2004 event. In addition, Inkfish also manned the phone lines for BBC Radio Berkshire's midmorning show from 9am to 12.30pm, as Andrew Peach accepted pledges for nearly £500 to play the station's specially recorded Children in Need single. Additional monies for Children in Need were raised through a raffle for Inkfish employees and friends.

Ben Dale-Gough, operations manager for the Slough call centre, commented: "Children in Need is now a key annual event for Inkfish and the rest of the Domestic & General Group. Although everyone is very busy but there is never any shortage of volunteers to stay 'after hours' to support this worthy cause. It's a hectic night but also really good fun, and of course, everyone involved gets tremendous satisfaction from doing their bit for Children in Need. We are delighted to have been able to support Children in Need again this year, and are looking forward to doing our bit once more in 2005!"

Inkfish would like to thank local companies Greggs, Marks & Spencer, Francesco's and Mr Chippy, who provided food and drink to keep the call takers on the ball throughout this year's event. In addition, Inkfish would like to thank all those companies that provided prizes for its annual Children in Need raffle, including Tesco and Sara Lee.

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Note to editors:

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The 25 Year Anniversary BBC Children in Need Appeal took place on Friday November 19. BBC Children in Need supports children in the UK, including those with disabilities or psychological disorders, or who have encountered serious illness, abuse, poverty or neglect. To make a donation call 0845 733 2233.

Inkfish Call Centres is a wholly owned subsidiary of Domestic & General Group PLC. One of the UK's top ten call centre operations, Inkfish provides contact services to blue chip clients such as BSkyB, Avon and Renault as well as to Group subsidiary, Domestic & General Services. Their two principal call centres are located in Brighton and Nottingham. Group subsidiary, Inkfish Services, provides volume mailing and fulfilment activities from their centre in Coventry. Inkfish Call Centres is an Age Positive employer and has won various awards for work life balance.

For full details on Inkfish Call Centres please visit www.inkfish.co.uk and on Domestic & General Group PLC, www.domgen.com. For further information, please contact the Inkfish press office on 020 8946 7777 or email Pressoffice@domgen.com.