by Kate McDowell

Fairbairn Private Bank joined forces with two local charities last month to deliver a bespoke training programme for some of its staff. The three-day course comprised an experiential workshop with Corporate Personal Development (CPD) at The Childrens Centre Community Farm, a challenging sail along the coast of the island and a post-training review.

As a platinum corporate sponsor of Sailing for the Disabled, the bank is entitled to a number of sailing days each year and this year it decided to do things a little differently and use one of these as a staff training opportunity. Lynn Kelly, the banks senior training executive, then worked in conjunction with the training services provided by Corporate Personal Development to design an intensive programme of team-building events. Corporate Personal Development is a social enterprise of another local charity, The Childrens Centre, and is a leader in the field of experiential learning.

The objective of the course was to bring staff from the banks Jersey office and sister company in Guernsey together with their colleagues in the Isle of Man in order to forge stronger working links. It also provided a perfect opportunity to explore some of the difficulties that can be associated with teams working across different locations, said Mrs Kelly.

Ultimately, a team of 12 hardy staff spent an intensive, and rather wet and windy, afternoon at The Childrens Centre Community Farm participating in the experiential workshop developed by John Knight, the CEO of the Childrens Centre, and Mark Payne, the head of experiential learning at Corporate Personal Development.

Day two saw the participants put their new found team-working skills into practice on board the Pride of Mann II, Sailing for the Disableds 46 foot yacht. The sail on stormy seas around the north east coastline of the island involved some very challenging team collaboration tasks which were set for the staff by the crew.

The programme was a tremendous success and thoroughly enjoyed by all the staff who participated. It also offered a unique opportunity to experience some of the inspiring services provided by two of the islands leading community organisations.

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Fairbairn Private Bank take training to extremes