ToTal Property Services

In our series of staff profiles so far we've featured the public face of the Gallery, and we've looked at many of what might be considered the more glamorous roles undertaken. But there is much more to the operation of a Gallery working in full flight – for one thing it generates a serious amount of mess. Keeping that under control is an integral part of the day to day operation of the building.

At Christchurch Art Gallery, the cleaning is undertaken by ToTal Property Services Canterbury Ltd. The team is led by Linda Wakefield, who started at the Robert McDougall Art Gallery and has built up thirteen years of service with the Gallery as team leader. Working with her are weekly cleaners Trish Tiananga, Nicole Anthony and Sam Hoeta (who have eleven, seven and two years experience at the Gallery respectively). Also working are Paddy Gallagher and Helen Chang, Helen Lundy and Jono Hermosa.

The day starts at 6am, 364 days a year, and getting the Gallery ready for staff and visitors alike is no mean feat. One only has to think of the volume of dust and dirt that flowed out of the Brought to Light construction site on the boots of the armies of contractors that tramped through the corridors, or the unwieldy lengths of timber that tore gouges through the plasterwork as they were manoeuvred around tight corners. At times it must have seemed something of a Sisyphean task. To this, Linda simply quotes the company motto: ‘ToTal service, total commitment'.
As well as cleaning up after functions, events and weddings in the Gallery, sometimes they are called upon by Gallery departments to undertake special cleans. This might mean blitzing a recently redecorated gallery space in anticipation of the arrival of the works of art, or the deep cleaning of collection storage spaces.

ToTal Property Service's work at the Gallery has been recognised at the Golden Service Awards – the national industry awards for the delivery of quality service – with gold in the Community and Culture category in 2003 and 2005. The team was also very close runner up in 2004, 2006 and 2007.

They are very proud of their commitment and performance at the Gallery. So the next time you walk into the Gallery in the morning, spare a thought for the Gallery's cleaning staff – they've been hard at it since well before the sun rose.