Sponsorships 2009
GEW Sponsorships and Donations to Charity
Sponsorships - GEW Staff
British Heart Foundation - Great Surrey Cycle 2009
British Heart Foundation - London to Brighton Bike Ride 2009
Sponsorships - Other
Surrey Air Ambulance - Air Aid Ball 2009
Sarah Hamburger - FITASC World Sporting Clay Shooting Championships 2009
BUPA – Great North Run 2009
Claire House Children's Hospice – Three Peaks Challenge
Bishop's Stortford High School Australia Rugby Tour 2009
Donations
NSPCC
Alzheimer Foundation
Rainbow Trust
Nutfield Village Bonfire
Cancer Research UK
Other
GEW sponsors three roundabouts in Redhill, helping to brighten our environment with wonderful displays of colour. Letters of appreciation have been received!
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British Heart Foundation - London to Brighton Bike Ride 2009
Around 27,000 cyclists got on their bikes and cycled the 54 miles from Clapham Common to Brighton seafront in the BHF London to Brighton Bike Ride 2009. Among them was GEW ‘s Richard Barnard, who was one of the “Flying Divots” team from the Dulwich and Sydenham Hill Golf Club. Yes, he’s the one with the fluorescent green leggings! GEW were pleased to sponsor Richard who completed the jam-packed course with everything still in tact and fully functioning. Well done!
The Flying Divots team.
British Heart Foundation – Great Surrey Cycle 2009
A challenging bike ride with a choice of a 37 mile or a 45 mile route both starting and finishing at Friends Provident, Dorking. Three intrepid riders from GEW took part in the 45 miler, namely Yannick Gasnier, Ben Bristow and Graham Huish. The day started in glorious sunshine which remained throughout the day. Unfortunately, Yannick’s car was not quite so glorious and didn’t start at all! Poor Yannick had to cycle a good ten miles to the start line! Nevertheless, all three riders finished the course without further event and a good day was had by all.
Surrey Air Ambulance - Air Aid Ball 2009
A marquee at Redhill Aerodrome was recently transformed into a 1940’s style ballroom for the “Air Aid Ball” which raised £54,000 for the Surrey Air Ambulance Fund.
Guests at the Second World War themed event were transported back in time for the biennial fundraiser organised by local businesses across Surrey, including GEW, accountants Kingston Smith, London Helicopter Centres and estate agents White and Sons.
The evening began with a spectacular thirty minute flying display involving a Spitfire, Hurricane and the Guinot Wing-Walkers - the World's only formation wing-walking team, it all got underway after the sounding of an air raid siren, similar to those used during the blitz.
Composer and lyricist Richard Stilgoe was compère for the night and treated the seated diners to a humorous topical piece, he also introduced historical recordings of British Prime Ministers – Neville Chamberlain and Winston Churchill.
The evening also including an auction with money can’t buy items like a ‘home cooked meal for eight by celebrity chef Tony Tobin’ and a trip to the Belgian F1 Grand Prix with Paddock privileges – the auction alone raised £21,000, and after a three course meal – there was dancing with music supplied by 16 piece band ‘String of Pearls’.
Julie Jenkinson, Surrey County Fundraiser said “It was an incredible evening for everyone involved – guests and organisers alike. We had incredible support from local businesses, but then to go on and raise a staggering £54,000 is just amazing.”
The Air Aid Ball is biennial - to find out more, visit http://www.surreyairambulance.co.uk
Sarah Hamburger - FITASC World Sporting Clay Shooting Championships 2009
The 2009 FITASC (Federation Internationale De Tir Aux Armes Sportives De Chasse) World Sporting Clay Shooting Championships returned to Australia after 15 years. The event took place in Warrnambool Victoria.
GEW sponsored Sarah Hamburger, one of Britain's top lady clay pigeon shooters, by providing the financial support for her to attend the event. Sarah first started shooting at Chobham Clay Pigeon Club at the age of 13 but it wasn't until 2004 that she started to shoot competitively. Within two years, she was selected to shoot for the Great Britain and England shooting teams.
Over the last three years she has won gold and silver medals at the European and World Championships in Austria, Cyprus, France and the Czech Republic and at last count was ranked 10th in the world.
She recently secured first place in the Great Britain team rankings for the World Championships in Australia and she describes the event in her own words:
The shoot itself was very challenging - the first two days were the most interesting as unfortunately they just moved the hoops for the second two days. The targets were at difficult angles and involved all sorts of birds - from rabbits to bumble bees and rockets. We didn't manage to get a GB ladies team together due to all the politics from the guy organising the teams which was a real shame so it was just me shooting as a solus competitor.
Day one was boiling hot - 32 degrees! I didn't cope very well with the heat as it was the first day like it an ended up shooting a very poor 13 and 15. The second day the weather changed completely and went down to a more reasonable 21 degrees so my scores improved to an 18 and 19 as I was prepared for another day of stifling heat! I was then a fair few targets behind the Australian girls who were used to shooting in the heat so ended up trying far too hard to make up my scores on day 3 without much success. The last day I started on the peg at 7.30am in the pouring rain - apparently more rain in one morning than they have had all year! My shooting was unsurprisingly poor and I ended up finishing on 131 - one of my lowest scores ever. The ladies shoot was won by a Spanish girl who shot 149. I ended up 15th which was a very unsatisfying result as I had expected to come away with a podium place. The overall shoot was won by an Australian guy who beat Digweed by one target.
I am really disappointed that I didn't achieve my goals at the shoot but want to thank you again for your support for me during this time.
A full report can be seen on the FITASC website: http://www.fitascsporting.com/australia-results-09.html
Graham Carlon - BUPA Great North Run 2009
The BUPA Great North Run brought together UV systems supplier GEW (EC) Ltd., and press manufacturer, MPS Systems (UK) Ltd., in raising money on behalf of the charity Action Medical Research. Accustomed to working together as B2B partners, GEW was happy to offer its support in sponsoring Managing Director; Graham Carlon’s run to raise funds for his chosen charity.
“Action Medical Research is a leading national charity dedicated to improving the health of babies and children,” said Graham Carlon. With the help of companies such as GEW, we raised £755.00, just for taking part in the race and it’s a fantastic event for both family and friends to share in. Action Medical Research works towards finding new ways to protect children from disease and addresses both rare and everyday conditions that affect them.”
“We reserve an annual budget dedicated to sponsorships and charitable events,” added Gillian Rae, Commercial & HR Director, GEW. “We try to support both local and national charities including those involving sporting events.”
The BUPA Great North Run took place in September with 54,000 sponsored participants taking part in the main race starting just outside Newcastle city centre and finishing 13.1 miles away in South Shields. This year’s event saw competitors from as young as three to sixteen taking part in smaller events, as well as seasoned runners and athletes running to raise funds for various charities, many with personal stories to tell.
BUPA Great Run events take place regionally throughout the UK and Ireland and offer fund raising opportunities for a number of registered charities.
www.greatrun.org
Gwyn Bouch - UK National 3 Peaks Challenge
The challenge involves climbing the highest mountains in Scotland, England and Wales. These are Ben Nevis -1344 metres Scafell Pike – 978 metres and Snowdon - 1085 metres. The challenge is to ascend and descend all three peaks within 24 hours including the travel time between them. GEW were pleased to sponsor Gwyn Bouch who undertook the event as part of a team of seven. Gwyn’s chosen charity was Cancer Research UK and he has a page on the Just Giving website for those who still wish to donate. The page is as follows:
http://www.justgiving.com/gwynbouch
The following is taken directly from his webpage:
On the 5th June 2009, 7 of the most highly tuned athletes in the world (me included so you know I'm lying!!) will attempt the UK National 3 Peaks challenge which involves climbing Ben Nevis, Scafell and Snowdon in under 24 hours. Its crackers I know but its for a great cause.
Everybody knows somebody who's been affected by the horror that is cancer. I for one am hopeless at using words to express my heartfelt sympathy for those affected. In such circumstances, ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS and hence this harebrained adventure.
Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Cancer Research UK gets your money faster and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.
So please sponsor me now!
So far Gwyn has raised a staggering £5,336 (28 Jan 2010)!
The Bishop's Stortford High School (TBSHS), based in Heartfordshire, is committed to a truly all-round education. TBSHS believes that School is more than the classrooms, and that all students should be enriched through cultural, sporting and wider experiences. As part of that ethos, a rugby tour was organised on a grand scale. It was decided to take the school rugby teams to Australia for them to compete with Australian school teams. This was realised in July 2009 with twelve matches being played over a three week period. Starting in Brisbane, they moved some 1700km north through Toowoomba, Rockhampton, Townsville and Innisfail before heading back south to Sydney for the final match. During their travels they managed to see many of the wonderful sites and take in some Australian culture. GEW were pleased help by sponsoring the tour kit.
Rainbow Trust Christmas Poster Campaign
Each Christmas in the UK 1.7 billion cards are sent to friends, family and colleagues. Over the last 2 years The Rainbow Trust raised over £60,000 by offering groups an alternative to sending Christmas cards to each other. The Rainbow Trust designed a festive poster for companies to display on their notice board and in staff room; instead of sending cards, all were asked to make a £2 donation to Rainbow Trust and write a Christmas message on the poster to everyone. GEW more than doubled the contribution raised by the poster alone.
