The head of Knight Frank’s healthcare team, Julian Evans, has reached the summit of Antarctica’s highest mountain.
Evans scaled Mount Vinson, a 16,050ft peak, 600 miles from the South Pole, in the worst weather conditions seen in the area for a decade. The temperature at the summit was -27 degrees Celsius.
Even for a seasoned adventurer like Evans it was tough going. Getting to the mountain was an adventure in itself, involving a four-hour, 2,000-mile plane trip on a cargo plane from the tip of South America to the snow camp of Union Glacier, another flight to Vinson base camp, and hauling a sledge and rucksack on the nine-day round trip to the summit.
Sponsor Caring Homes Group was instrumental in helping Evans raise £20,000 for the Matt Hampson Foundation.
See more about Evans’s adventures at www.julian-evans.co.uk
Innes England raises £15,000
Cancer Research UK is £15,000 better off after a year of fundraising by Innes England.
Staff from the agency’s offices in Derby, Nottingham and Leicester threw themselves into everything from a 75-mile bike ride, a squash tournament and the Pretty Muddy 5km race, to dress up and dress down days to raise the sum.
Innes England managing director Tim Garratt said: “When we first selected Cancer Research UK as our charity of the year, we never imagined we would raise so much and we could not think of a better and more worthy cause.”
Last week Garratt and Innes England chairman Robert Hartley toured the cancer research facility at the University of Nottingham and got an insight into how fundraising supports the charity’s vital research.
State of the art
Art lovers can purchase paintings by homeless people following an innovative charity project organised by Chestertons.
The firm gave budding artists the chance to show off their creative skills by joining its charity partner St Mungo’s with the prestigious Royal Academy of Arts.
The workshop produced art of such a standard that it will now be auctioned.
The firm’s efforts continued last week, when they raised £1,000 during the charity’s Woolly Hat Day, bringing its total fundraising amount to £8,000.
Chestertons has committed to raising
at least £25,000 for the charity over the next year, as well as putting forward a rota of staff who have volunteered to accompany St Mungo’s workers on their outreach walks in Westminster, Islington and the City.
You can bid for the artworks at www.allintheloop.net/app/chestertons/auction. The auction runs until 6pm on 1 March. All profits go to St Mungo’s.
Bishopsgate comes up with the goods
The Goodsyard, a Hammerson and Ballymore joint venture in Shoreditch, E1, to redevelop the Bishopsgate goods rail terminal, has launched a £25,000 fund to help local projects promote employment, training and sports for young people in east London.
The Bishopsgate Goodsyard Fund, which is being managed by the East End Community Foundation, is offering £5,000 to community initiatives in Tower Hamlets and Hackney.
Hammerson community manager Jon Brookes said before launching the fund the joint venture conducted a year’s worth of research into local residents’ needs and aspirations for the area.
Grant applications are being received until 29 March, with special consideration being given to projects near the Bishopsgate Goodsyard site.
See more at www.eastendcf.org
Derwent tops up Tech Belt community fund
Derwent London has announced it will top up a community fund to support projects in Fitzrovia and the Tech Belt.
The group has confirmed it will spend £300,000 over three years, adding to a £250,000 pot it set up in 2013.
This year £50,000 will be made available for community projects in Fitzrovia and another £50,000 will go to projects in the Tech Belt (the area extending from King’s Cross to Whitechapel), focusing on the Old Street neighbourhood. This money is in addition to the developer’s community contributions from planning agreements.
Since receiving money in the first round, the Fitzrovia Youth in Action project has resurfaced a sports pitch at The Warren, W1, opposite the 13-home affordable housing scheme Suffolk House, delivered by Origin Housing for Derwent London last April.
The deadline for this year’s applications is 16 March, with successful candidates decided by Derwent London and the local community.
Visit www.derwentlondon.com/news/article/community-fund-2016 for more information.
