Last night I attended the Thames Water ‘Big Fat Cheesy Quiz’.
This is one of the highlights in the annual calendar of charity events at Thames
and last night was particularly special as it marked the official end of the 4
year campaign to raise £2m for WaterAid in Bangladesh. I was in Thames when this
campaign was kicked off and remember thinking that achieving that eye-watering
target was going to be very tough. The night was hosted by (Head of Legal) Bill
Blackburn and (Head of Retail) Andrew Reaney. As they burst onto the stage
singing Show Me The Way to Amerilo I knew it was going to be a great night.
Like all good Cheesy Quiz events there was a theme to the
proceedings. Last night it was the 1970s. Most teams had someone in an afro wig
or a spangly dress, or a flowery shirt, or flaired trousers. Indeed, all and
every fashion crime from my early childhood was being relived. For my part I had
visited my local fancy dress shop and procured a ‘Tony from Saturday Night
Fever’ outfit, complete with a thick black wig.
I was there at the request of my former boss, Martin Baggs,
CEO for Thames. There were 38 teams competing but for my former Thames Exec
colleagues there was only one competitor: the other Exec team! You see, for the
past 5 years whenever there has been any opportunity for a competition the Exec
team has quickly split into two teams. The teams have always stayed the same and
one of those teams (somewhat suspiciously it is always Martin’s team) has
consistently won while the other has always come second.
Martin had invited me to join his team as their secret
weapon. His plan was that I would help ensure victory once again. I can only
assume that he had forgotten that I have never once been on the
winning Exec team. My 'Tony' was either going to bring a bit of
70s glam to the team, or I was going to be the Jonah that would sink
them.
We started well, gaining an extra 10 points for our fancy
dress and at half time we were in the lead. However Bill Blackburn, for whom the
power of being Compere had clearly gone to his head, auctioned our 10 point lead
to the highest bidder at half time. By the end of the night we were not only
horribly mid-field but it looked like we were going to finish behind the other
Exec team. It looks like I was a Jonah after all.
That said, the evening ended on a high. The total amount
raised by Thames and its contractors for WaterAid over the past 4 years has been
a truly mind-blowing £2,150,000. For that sort of money I dont mind being on the
losing team.
grt
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