Swinging through the trees!

This year’s annual Myakka staff day out took place at Go Ape at Moors Valley Country Park, Dorset. This high ropes course was a real challenge for everyone on the Myakka team who came along. The day started off in a very pleasant manner with bacon sandwiches, tea, coffee and fresh fruit before the tree adventure began.

After a lot of laughs as we all got into our (rather unflattering!) safety harnesses, with a lot of help from the Go Ape team, we were ready for a safety briefing where we learnt the essentials including the most important lesson which was to always stay attached! This was easier said than done as there was a lot of clipping and unclipping as we moved from one stage of the course to another.

 The course was challenging for all of us as the course took place over five stages high up in the trees, but for some members of the team it was more of a challenge. A big well done goes to Cherry in our Warehouse Outlet who amazed us all by completing the whole course including the ‘extreme’ rated Tarzan swing on the last stage, even though she was shaking throughout the whole experience! After each course there was a long zip wire which was for most of us the highlight of each stage, especially the wire on stage three which was the longest and the fastest. This was the hardest wire to reach as an extra ladder had to be climbed to get enough height to make the zip wire as long as possible.

 All in all a great day was had by all, not even the rain, try as it might, couldn’t even dampen our spirits! A big thank you to the Go Ape team who made the day a real success! To find out more about Go Ape and to find a course near you, click here. Or to find out more about spending a lovely day out at Moors Valley Country park, click here.

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Ethical Currency Transactions

As we import our furniture straight from the manufacturers in India, we make quite a few currency trades throughout each year.  To make this easier, faster and to allow us to secure some of the best rates possible, we use a currency broker to complete the exchanges.  When it comes to currency transactions, there are a huge number of brokers out there so selecting the right one can be a big job.  Our choice was made a lot easier when we discovered Ethical Currency – a business dedicated to offering excellent service and rates for trading currency with an added edge, donating a percentage of every trade to charity in the form of a ‘transaction levy payment’.

Ethical Currency’s first charitable payment was made earlier this year to South African charity, Treatment Action Campaign which campaigns on behalf of people infected with HIV/AIDS.

Ethical Currency has chosen to take up this micro-tax voluntarily and is constantly advocating the scheme to others.  As an indicator of the success of their business, they are increasing the percentage of each trade that they will be donating next year from 0.005% to 0.01%.  It may sound like a small figure, but given the volume and value of international currency trades that are made on a daily basis, the amount soon adds up!  If transaction levy payment system was applied globally it is estimated that it would raise $35 to $40 billion dollars annually for charities.

This is just one example of how at Myakka, we scrutinise and try to improve on the ethical advantages of every aspect of our business.  If you would like more information on Ethical Currency please email simon@mykkka.co.uk or visit their website www.ethicalcurrency.com.

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