Service with a HUG is a blend of my great passion for customer service and my mum’s passion for hugging!
For more than twenty years I’ve been running a business that facilitates workshops for people who are employed in customer service roles, helping them to be more effective.
The more interesting part is my mum’s story. Born in Swindon, UK in 1925 she had a happy childhood and was the eldest of four children. Her Dad was a proud craftsman – a coppersmith in Swindon’s world-famous Great Western Railway factory where he worked for 51 years, through two world wars. Curious factoid: Much of the old railway works which closed in 1986 has been converted into a retail shopping centre!
During World War Two, mum was in the Royal Navy and vividly remembers D-Day, with hundreds of military personnel sleeping in corridors in readiness.
In the 1950s Mum, together with my Dad and sister, emigrated to Australia, settling in the fine city of Melbourne. After a few years, the family returned to the UK and I arrived in the world shortly after.
I dedicated Service with a HUG to my mum because, well… she’s my mum! And actually, she was the first person to give me a hug and, not only that, she showed me so many times the power of a hug to heal a relationship.
In 2012 mum organised a fund-raising event called ‘Hugs for Heroes’ in which she persuaded a group of us to stand in a shopping centre, offering hugs to unsuspecting Saturday shoppers. Here’s Mum talking about the event, and about hugging…
And here’s how it turned out…