“One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind” (Neil Armstrong)
This month, we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landings. Back in July 1969, people across the world sat glued to their TV sets as they watched a human being set foot on another planet for the first time.
It was an historic achievement – requiring a huge team, pioneering engineering, courageous pilots and an awful lot of money.
So Neil Armstrong’s historic quote, as he set foot on the moon, is remarkably modest.
He gets the fame for sure, but he doesn’t claim all the credit. He defines his role in this massive endeavour as “one small step”.
He was one part of a very large team of people, from the astronauts and flight controllers to the managers, mathematicians, engineers and everyone in between.
There is a famous quote from this time, which we love, and which we have included in our Photographic Exhibition:
During a visit to the Nasa Space Centre in 1962, President Kennedy noticed a cleaner carrying a broom.
He interrupted his tour, walked over to the man and said, “Hi, I’m Jack Kennedy, what you are doing?”
The cleaner responded, “I’m helping put a man on the moon, Mr President”
The cleaners at NASA made their own essential contribution to the team effort.
At Clean for Good, we love this story for two reasons.
Firstly, it reminds us that every cleaner is making an essential contribution to the organisations they work for, and so deserves to be treated with respect and paid fairly. Every cleaner is a part of the team.
And secondly, this story inspires us to keep our eyes on the big dream that we have – that one day, every single cleaner in London will be paid a Living Wage and treated with respect. With tens of thousands of cleaners in London, it would be an historic achievement.
We may currently be a small company in a large sector, but we believe that significant change is possible - and as our growth continues to accelerate, we know that each new customer is taking us “one small step” closer to changing the cleaning sector for good.
It can be done.
Clean for Good is a growing ethical cleaning company for London, cleaning offices and workspaces across the city. We are a Living Wage Employer, we directly employ our cleaners on decent terms and conditions and we train and manage our cleaners professionally. Founded in a church in the City of London, we launched in 2017 and have been growing ever since.
For more information and to get a free quote for cleaning your offices, go to www.cleanforgood.co.uk
Follow us at @clean4good.
Tim Thorlby is the Managing Director of Clean for Good. You can find him at @TimThorlby.
And don’t forget you can still visit our Photographic Exhibition!