A team which achieved the greatest value for money in a sporting festival and tapped into private sector resources has been named winners of the Civil Service Challenge 2010.

In the second year of the challenge, which is organised by CSW publisher Dods and overseen by cabinet secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell, four teams were set the task of producing a festival of sport – inside two weeks, and using a budget of £500 provided by sponsors Visa. The teams were asked to collect ‘pledges of fitness’ from those who attended, so that the festivals would leave a legacy of healthier communities.

The winning team organised an event in Glasgow, spent £252 and secured 170 pledges. Sir Gus pointed out that this meant they had spent just £1.72 per pledge, compared to £2.92 spent by the runner-up team, which completed its challenge in London and secured 159 pledges.
The winning team comprised Richard Littlewood of the Department for Work & Pensions, Adrian Bartlett of the Department of Health, Mina Path of Jobcentre Plus, and Carolyn Bamber, also of the Department for Work & Pensions.

Littlewood, who was team leader, paid tribute to all four teams who took part, and said he was “so chuffed” for his colleagues after all the hard work they had put in.

Sir Gus said the winning team had displayed “an amazing degree of professionalism in blagging” as they secured much of their equipment and prizes at the event for free. They also took an innovative approach to collecting pledges of fitness: rather than asking people to sign specific pledges, attendees registered in order to enter a prize draw. The details of those who did not opt out were then passed on to local sports clubs for follow-up.

The results were announced on the final day of Civil Service Live. Throughout the three-day conference, civil servants watched a video and voted online for the team which they thought had performed best. The two teams with the most votes then faced a Q&A with a judging panel consisting of cabinet secretary Gus O’Donnell; entrepreneur Peter Jones; Jonny Holden, head of government services at Visa Commercial; and Gill Rider, head of leadership and people strategy for the civil service.

Click here to view the Civil Service Challenge video

Written by Suzannah Brecknell