Charity Events @ THE GL@ZINE

Safestyle's Three Peaks Winner

Safestyle Human Resources manager, Anadi Dey, has walked his socks off to complete the famous Three Peaks Pennine Walk to claim his employer's promise of doubling his charity fund raising effort to £1000.

Anadi, who lives in Farsley, Pudsey, West Yorkshire and works at the Bradford headquarters of the Style Group, UK independent PVCu replacement window and door manufacturer and retailer, completed the walk to raise at least £500 for the children's charity, NSPCC. He persuaded three friends to join him and together they trained for three months to finish the tortuous walk scaling Yorkshire's three highest mountains, in only 12 hours, starting at 5am.

Tired and relieved having completed the gruelling day in horrendous weather conditions, Anadi commented: 'I knew it would be the biggest challenge of my life and I was not wrong. Taking in the summits of Pen-y-ghent (694 metres - 2,276 feet), Whernside (736 metres - 2,415 feet) and Ingleborough (723 metres - 2,372 feet) all in one circular route, the Yorkshire Three Peaks is an extremely demanding but rewarding test. However all the pain and heartache was certainly worth it as the NSPCC is a really worthwhile cause.'

He added: 'What made me really determined to complete the challenge was the offer of my employer, Safestyle UK, to double what I raised. It was a generous and great incentive for us.'

John Ross, Chief Executive of the Style Group, commented: 'Our Group always tries to encourage employees to support their local community and charities like the NSPCC. This was no ordinary challenge and Anadi has certainly earned our added support for his efforts.'

VEKA Directors Tortured for Charity Cash

Three directors at PVC-U systems supplier VEKA plc suffered pain and humiliation to help raise nearly £1,800 for their local hospice at the company's Charity Fun Day.

MD Mark de Meza and fellow directors Dave Jones and Alastair Lomas took turns to be pelted with wet sponges by visitors.

Elsewhere, around 250 workers, family and friends enjoyed games, rides, raffles, food, drink and music at the Burnley HQ in aid of the nearby Pendleside Hospice.

Mark de Meza prepares for a soaking from Samuel Tempest, 6, and Alice Lomas, 8

‘Everyone had a great time,’ said Mark.

‘But it was a pleasure to be able to do it for such a well-respected good cause at the same time as rewarding our staff for all their efforts.’

Another big winner was a super prize raffle with donations including an autographed cue given personally by snooker champion Steve Davis, who appears in advertising for VEKA's associate organisation, Network VEKA.

Tel: 01282 716611
Web: http://www.veka.co.uk

Rugby Windows STEPS in to Help

STEPS, a charity based in Loughborough that helps families of children with cerebral palsy and similar motor disfunctions, needed help because its building was in dire need of repair.

The charity called for local builders and trades people to offer whatever support they could for a ‘Challenge-Anneka’ style makeover that took place between 21st May and 1st June 2007 and was filmed by ITV Central for future broadcast.

Rugby Windows, a Deceuninck fabricator got involved when one of the companies supporting the challenge, William Davis Ltd, asked them for help. The Loughborough-based builder and developer knew the quality that Rugby Windows offered because they had worked with them on numerous other projects. Phill Holt of Rugby Windows says they were only too pleased to donate their services. ‘STEPS is a local charity, so when William Davis asked us to help, we didn't hesitate to say yes. It was a great opportunity to support a worthwhile cause.’

Rugby Windows slotted the manufacture of the twenty windows into their heavy workload and then delivered the fully glazed frames to the site where all the contractors needed to do was install them. Phill commented that it was quite a challenge, because some of the windows were small and therefore intricate, but adds, ‘It just makes it even more of a pleasure when we drive past the building, because we can take pride in the workmanship involved as well as the support we offered!’

Rugby's profile supplier, Deceuninck, offered its support too, by donating the company’s popular 2800 decorative profiles for the 20 windows needed free of charge. Jon Skinner, Deceuninck Commercial Director, commented: ‘We were delighted to be able to help a clearly worthy project.’

The project was a great success, going to show how generous organisations, both large and small, can be. The STEPS centre will benefit all the children who attend enormously and all those who took part, including Rugby Windows and Deceuninck can be justifiably proud.

Web: http://www.rugby-windows.com

BSI Takes on the Microsoft Challenge and Raises Funds for NSPCC

Seven members of staff from BSI Product Services, based in Hemel Hempstead, recently took part in the recent Microsoft Challenge 2007, in order to raise funds for the NSPCC.

Held in Yorkshire in June, the Microsoft Challenge is an annual team-building event for businesses across the UK where teams from high profile UK and international businesses compete against the clock to complete strenuous physical and mental tasks over a period of four days and nights.

The BSI Product Services team (from left to right) Rob Hearty, Bernard Sweeney, Gill Holdsworth, Scott Ginger, Mark Manito, Neil Stanton and Cait Cowley

Six clients sponsored the BSI PS team and many other colleagues at Hemel Hempstead helped the team to train and raise funds for up to 6 months before the event took place. Sponsors were Anglia, Beaufort Aluminium Systems, Duraflex, Farnell, Sapa and Spectus.

It is thanks to the support and prize donations of all the participants that the event was such a success. Perhaps the most impressive outcome is that the money raised in the challenge will help an average of 2 children per team to be taken out of an abusive situation.

The entire event will raise over £500,000 for the NSPCC - the highest figure yet - and while final figures are not yet available, the BSI Product Services team expects its funds raised to exceed its original £3,000 target.

The BSI Product Services team finished in a very credible time of 13 hours, 50minutes and 53 seconds putting it in 66th place – the teams highest placing ever.

Team captain, Gill Holdsworth said: We have been taking part in this challenge for 3 years now but I think this was the most challenging and satisfying. It is not difficult to get motivated when you know that the money raised will go to a good cause. We will certainly consider doing this again next year and would like to involve even more of our clients and staff’.

Web: http://www.bsi-global.com

Charitable Side of Pilkington on Track for Railway Trust

Pilkington has donated Pilkington Pyrodur fire-resistant glass to the Middleton Railway Trust for its Engine House headquarters in Leeds.

Pilkington donated four, two metre high panes of Pilkington Pyrodur, which were installed between the office administration and café areas on the ground and first floors to provide protection for the engines on display in the building. The first floor window is double glazed incorporating 10mm Pilkington Pyrodur 30-201, and the ground floor is single glazed with the same product.

David Monckton is the chairman of the Middleton Railway Trust and was also the architect and project manager for the construction of the Engine House. He says: 'We’re very grateful that Pilkington has kindly donated its glass to help with the building’s makeover. We’ve been pleased with the performance as it provides integrity as well as some insulation.'

The Middleton Railway Trust is a museum and registered charity dedicated to preserving the Middleton Railway and the products of the Leeds locomotive building industry. The Trust received a £750,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to create the building and with it they replaced all passenger facilities and built a display hall for their vintage engines.

This donation is not the first time Pilkington has helped the Trust. They have ties stretching back to the 1960s when Pilkington donated an engine called 'Windle' from its St Helens office to be displayed in the Engine House. David continues: 'It’s quite fitting that the relationship between us has been renewed with this charitable donation. I hope that it will remain strong for the future as well.'

Pilkington Pyrodur has a purpose built interlayer which, in case of fire, reacts to heat and foams to form an opaque barrier which restricts the spread of flames and hot gases. It is also one of the first fire-resistant glass products to meet the current European fire and impact test standards.

For further information visit http://www.pilkington.co.uk/fireresistant or call 01744 692000.

Ultraframe CEO Bids for Freedom

Ultraframe CEO, Grahame Hall recently spent an evening in the local police cells - all in the name of charity!

The fundraising stunt raised over £1700 for the East Lancashire Hospice, located close to the Clitheroe Head Office of the conservatory roofing systems manufacturer.

Grahame, who took part in the stunt along with other figure-heads from local businesses, was 'charged' with the crime of helping to inflate house prices across the UK with the addition of stunning conservatories, featuring the market-leading Ultraframe roofing system.

For his 'terrible crime', Grahame was led into Blackburn Magistrates Court to be read his charge by acting magistrates from the Hospice before being locked in a cell with nothing but a mobile phone to raise his bail money!

Happily, Ultraframe staff and customers had pledged 'bail money' to secure his release which was then donated to the Hospice.

Grahame Hall commented: ‘I am hopeful that this was my first and last spell in a police cell! I would like to thank all the customers and staff who helped to raise money for such a fantastically worthy cause.’

The hospice is the main specialist palliative care unit for the communities of Blackburn, Darwen, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley, serving a population of some 385,000 and offering palliative care to patients with advanced and progressive life threatening disease, particularly those suffering from cancer, and support for their relatives and carers in an atmosphere of calm with tenderness, care and quiet efficiency.

In total, it costs £1.2M each year to run the East Lancashire Hospice, of which only a small percentage is received from government funding. Therefore, the Hospice relies very heavily on voluntary contributions in order for them to offer the wide range of services available.

Harry Grayson, Head of Fundraising at the Hospice commented: ‘The Jailbreak fundraiser was a fun way of raising vital money for the continuing operation of the East Lancashire Hospice. We would like to thank Grahame Hall for being such a great sport, and of course, all those who gave generously towards the bail money which secured his release from jail, and delivered him back to Ultraframe.’

For further details about the East Lancashire Hospice visit http://www.elh.org.uk or call 01254 342810.

Safestyle Backs Adele's Cancer Run

Adele Opie's Race for Life 2007 has raised £400 for Cancer Research UK, thanks mainly to the generosity of her employer, Safestyle, PVCu replacement window and door retailer, which was so impressed that the company doubled her personal contribution to the charity.

Adele, age 29, is a customer resolution consultant at Safestyle's headquarters in her home town of Bradford, West Yorkshire. She made her big effort for the Cancer Research in memory of a relative and friends who had suffered from the illness by enrolling her mother and four other friends to make the run, jog and walk for just over three miles at Boston in Lincolnshire, the nearest town to the village of Old Leake where they lived and Adele grew up. They called themselves 'Team Cupcake' and the Boston event was one of many similar events in over 280 locations in the United Kingdom in July this year.

Adele explained: 'After reading about Cancer Research and its work to raise funds and having some personal experience of people who have struggled to fight the illness, I wanted to find a way of helping. I read about the Race for Life nationwide campaign and decided it would be well worth the effort. When I told my employer, Safestyle, what I had done the company was so impressed it doubled the amount raised. It was a wonderful gesture and made the whole effort very satisfying.'

Safestyle's chief executive, John Ross, added: 'The Style Group supports various charities and Cancer Research is a very important and active organisation. We also like to encourage our employees to help all good causes and we are pleased to show Adele how much we appreciate her effort.'

Web: http://www.safestyle-windows.co.uk