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FP1997
a simple favour....
What would you choose if you thought of your most cherished gift?
There are, of course, the wedding rings or second-hand cars, the audiobook you've been craving or hand-made casserole dish. But for some, it's the simple things. When @Layfin0914 reached out in January, she was searching for something small...
Thomas is a Sky Community Advisor.
His job involves being present and interactive on Sky Community; if you have seen posts get escalated with the blue bubble when somebody needs specialist help - Thomas is one of the people you might end up talking to.
On this particular day, this customer wasn't looking for help with HDMI cables or router settings. Some time ago, the Sky VIP team had sent out a free gift package to all VIPs, containing some branded stationary. One particular item had caught the eye of this customer's son.
She wrote:
"Does anyone know how I can get my hands on another sky vip pencil.. we got a free gift through the post which included a pencil and my austic son loves it cause it had a squishy end and it has broke and he has meltdowns after meltdowns about it. I have tried to please him with another pencil but it's not the same.. if some one from sky can point me right direction I will entirely grateful
Many thanks"
Another user had raised this post up to the team after expressing their understanding for the situation. They said hopefully, 'I've flagged this to Sky, I doubt they will be able to help but you never know.'
Tom decided to heed the call and investigate if there was any chance in fulfilling the boy's wish.
He reached out through Sky's staff network group directly to members of the VIP squad. Often, staff will have the group open for posting updates, announcements or networking . It's also a place where staff can raise questions on behalf of customers.
Tom's post went on a mighty adventure. It managed to get the attention of Leanne (a colleague in his team) who responded by tagging Ruth, a well respected operations manager with a wealth of experience at Sky. The story was incredibly moving, and luckily, she had an answer. James, who works directly in the VIP squad, is a close colleague and rapid-fire responder.
Thomas wrote:
"After contacting James through email, he advised he knew what I was looking for and could arrange for this to be sent out to the customer if I could get the correct information. I started a chat with the customer and was able to...get the information James needed and arrange to send the pencil out to them."
The pencil then started to make its way in the post, within five days of the customer's call for help. The package arrived safe and sound directly into the hands of her son.
For children with autism, sensory experiences can be heightened in positive ways. In the same way that we love to click our pens, or squeeze a stress-ball, a sense of touch and play is a fun way to experience the world and express feelings.
Cast your mind back to childhood. Were you the generation with the triple-play pencil? The bendy rubber pencils you could tie in a knot? What about the humongous pencil you had to carry over your shoulder? Or our personal favourite: the pencil that looks like a pen?
These little things can often make big differences to a child's experience of school, and impact what they choose to do at home. Compared to a free movie or red carpet event, this VIP gift might have seemed underwhelming, but in the eyes of @Layfin0914's son, it was like a second Christmas.
Tom sums the experience up for us all, by saying:
"I felt it was a great example of people from across the company pulling together to make a small gesture that would have a huge impact and it felt great to be a part of it."
To explore what features you or your loved ones can access, visit our Sky Accessibility page. There, you can find information on how we tailor our content to people with visual, hearing, cognitive and physical impairments. We are constantly developing our products to ensure that we accomodate for people that need it.
You can also find out what VIP rewards you're eligible for in the MySky App!
And, if you have any feel-good moments, share them below!
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