Thanks to a partnership with The Foundation of Light, more than 1500 customers enjoyed a free Easter family fun day on Friday 25 April.
The event was a huge success with families enjoying a range of activities including football, bouncy castles, a UV dance party, cricket, golf, arts and crafts and more. Free food was provided, and children were also gifted a chocolate treat before heading home.
Gentoo customer, Dean, who attended the Beacon of Light with his two children, said: “I’m at the fun day with my two children, there’s lots to do and we’ve had a go on everything. It’s a really good thing to organise, especially at a time when everyone seems to be struggling, being able to come to a free event, get the children out and having a bit of exercise, it’s a good combination.”
Susan Fulton, Executive Director of Customer, People and Engagement said: “What a brilliant day! We’ve had some great feedback from customers who enjoyed a day of diverse, fun activities with their family.
“We know the school holidays come with an added financial pressure for many families, and we were delighted to give families the opportunity to make lasting memories without having to worry about the cost.
“A big thank you to our partners for helping to make today another huge success.”
Colleagues were on hand to answer queries, complaints and offer help and advice. They were also promoting their latest apprenticeship offer to customers. Barclays, SMART City, Sunderland Mind, Sunderland GP Alliance and We Make Culture were also in attendance to offer further support and advice to customers.
We also set up a food station where customers could pack a free food parcel to take home with them. Our partners, RE:GEN Group also donated more than 1000 chocolate eggs to support the fun day.
As part of its commitment to engaging with customers and improving services, we surveyed customers on the day to find out how they want to be communicated with, how they would want to be involved and what we can do to improve services. Customers who completed the survey were entered into a draw to win prizes including a brand-new laptop.
Lesley Spuhler, Foundation of Light Chief Executive, said: "We’re proud to work with Gentoo to support families in our community. Events like this are about bringing people together, creating lasting memories, and offer a helping hand during tough times. It’s a real celebration of what we can achieve through partnership."
Following the success of the summer and festive family fun days, we doubled ticket capacity so even more customers had the opportunity to attend.
