Posted 11th Nov 2005

A local conference centre was turned into a global village last Tuesday as over 300 staff from the Progress Housing Group got to grips with Salsa, Origami, Tai Chi and Basic Japanese as part of their Staff Conference.

Staff also enjoyed a motivational one-hour presentation by award winning trainer and comedian, Kate Hull Rodgers, and stress busting workshops in Scuba Diving, Assertiveness, Digital Photography and Complementary Therapies.

The annual event aims to give Progress staff a taste of different cultures and new experiences whilst creating the opportunity for members of its diverse workplace to meet and share ideas

And as 2005 is The E U-Japan Year of People-to-People Exchanges, the Japanese workshops at the event were officially recognised by the Japanese Embassy as contributing to their European wide initiative to promote better understanding of European and Japanese society and culture.

Commented Brenda Birmingham, Conference Organiser and Group Marketing Manager: 'We've had a outstanding year at Progress and it was great to get staff working together to share ideas and best practice and also to recognise their hard work.