The end of each year is traditionally a nostalgic time – and here at Paycare, we like to use the opportunity to reflect on the highlights and milestones of the past 12 months.
While recognising the continued challenges people across the UK and beyond face in both personal and professional capacities, we remain steadfast in our commitment to supporting more people to become healthier and happier.
As we stand on the cusp of our 150th anniversary celebrations, let’s delve into the archives and celebrate the achievements of 2023:
Our work
This year marked a fond farewell to Kevin Rogers, who stepped down as our CEO (although he’s still on board in an advisory capacity), and a huge congratulations to Anthony Burns, our previous Commercial Director, who has already proved a fantastic successor in what’s been an incredibly busy first year in post.
Conscious of going above and beyond the requirements of the new Consumer Duty, which came into force this summer, we undertook a customer experience project which saw every single member of staff help track the journey of a Policyholder from initial enquiry right through to first claim and beyond. And our IT whizzes have also been hard at work transforming our systems which may not be outwardly noticeable, but is already measurably improving the efficiency of our processes and behind-the-scenes work.
Our communities
Community has been hugely important to Paycare over the last 149 years, and 2023 was no different! We joined forces with Golden Bear teddies to distribute toys to children in need across the region.
The team was proud to become Pack Patrons for Wolves Foundation in 2023, and equally delighted to be shortlisted in the Community Champion category at the inaugural Foundation Gala.
Our Partnerships Manager Sally Bromley took fundraising to new heights by taking part in a skydive for The Haven Wolverhampton, the Paycare Pirates set sail in a dragon boat for Black Country Foodbank and The Rotary Club of Wolverhampton, and a 24-hour readathon saw Christmas brightened up for young people in the Black County and Birmingham.
Our partners
Working alongside our Paycare friends has enabled us to provide even more support – including yoga and wellbeing sessions from Gemma Allies for our Policyholders; a large-scale drawing class for the team, hosted by Creative Black Country; collaborating with Kaleidoscope Plus Group to raise awareness of men’s health; and free tickets to the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre pantomime.
The hard-working team were out and about as usual, visiting as many businesses as possible, and attending events such as the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce Business Expo and Connectin Business Expo organised by Shropshire Chamber, as well as handing out Paycare Science Awards to top students at the University of Wolverhampton.
Receiving positive feedback is something we always treasure – so it was fantastic to be able to share testimonials from a HR consultancy firm, Synectics Solutions, and social enterprise PEGS, as well as gathering regular comments from individual and corporate Policyholders to ensure we continue to provide value and meet our aims of improving your health and happiness.
Our team
The team has continued to shine this year – undertaking fundraising, working extremely hard, and being fantastic! We also had the added joy of meeting some of their four-legged friends as we introduced Bring your Dog to Work Day, the paw-fect way to brighten up the office!
In 2023 we’ve also continued to share health, wellbeing and workplace tips across our blog, national and regional media, and social media too. Whether we’re focusing on banishing the blues, bowel cancer awareness, menopause awareness, or festive feel-good tips, we’re always on the look-out for relevant subjects to share information, statistics and research about.
If you’re not yet doing so, you can follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to keep up to date with all the latest, as well as checking the blog regularly of course!
We’d like to thank all of our Policyholders for their support this year, it’s never taken for granted!
So all that’s left for us to say is we hope you have a happy and healthy festive period and New Year – and we look forward to celebrating our 150th birthday with you all in 2024.