Our MDHUB members constantly surprise and inspire us through their dedication to their businesses. As if this wasn’t impressive enough, four members have used their unstoppable drive to raise money for four wonderful charities. From sponsored walks to swimming the Channel, we’re taking the opportunity to share and celebrate their inspiring efforts, writes Millie Green, MDHUB Social Media Lead
It’s three in the morning. In the swaying darkness, a swimmer weaves through the waves. Her destination? France.
A spotlight glares down from The Gallivant, breaking through the otherwise inky sky. This is where Sarah Dennis, Group Executive PA at Temple, found herself this July.
www.templegroup.co.uk
After almost a year of frustrating delays, Sarah took the plunge to raise money for Aspire, a UK charity for people with spinal cord injuries, supporting them from injury to independence.
The Aspire Jackals team swam through the night and into the dawn, passing a smack* of jellyfish on their way. They finally landed in France after 12 hours and 40 minutes. We are so impressed by Sarah’s effort and that of the whole Aspire Jackals team. Read more about Aspire’s work on their website www.aspire.org.uk. You can also read more about their journey to completing the swim on their JustGiving page www.justgiving.com/fundraising/sarah-dennis1974
Compared to swimming the Channel, a morning swim in the summer seems an ideal way to start the day, to warm up your muscles and wake yourself up. Now imagine doing a swim every day, for a whole year.
Clare Wilkinson (above) at Hot Horse took on the monumental challenge to swim every day for 365 days in aid of the Trussell Trust, and completed her final swim at the Saltdean Lido on Saturday July 22nd 2023.
http://hothorse.co.uk
www.trusselltrust.org
The mental effort to swim every day, rain or shine, is no joke. It’s an outstanding display of Clare’s dedication and drive, and her efforts will be well appreciated.
The Trussell Trust has delivered almost three million emergency food parcels in the last twelve months, a 100% rise on the previous twelve months. Over a million of these parcels were distributed to children.
If you would like to support Clare and the Trussell Trust, you can donate to Clare’s GoFundMe.
Back on land, Helen Vane, Director at GoGecko took on a walking challenge, certainly not for the faint of heart, 27 miles on foot through the parks of London, all in aid of BRCA+ Chat, a charity providing support to those carrying a BRCA (or other) gene mutation.
www.gogecko.org.uk
For Helen, the walk was personal: her close friend Sarah had just come out of remission from ovarian cancer. Sarah’s family carry the gene mutation and are faced with impossible decisions to make to decrease their risk of developing cancer. Helen’s mum and sister, although not carriers of the BRCA gene mutation, are also both recovering from breast cancer.
BRCA+ Chat is a small Worthing-based charity, so giving something back was especially important for Helen. So far, she has raised £1,200 for BRCA+ Chat, including a very generous £500 donation from Clarity Environmental Ltd. You can read more about Helen’s walk and donate to her fundraiser on GoFundMe. www.justgiving.com/page/helen-vane-onefootatatime
On the September 23rd, hundreds of purple-clad walkers will fill London’s streets in aid of Cancer Research for the Shine Night Walk 2023. Among them will be Victoria of Victoria Green (above), walking for a close friend recently lost to cancer. Victoria’s friend left behind a 15 year-old son.
www.victoriagreen.com
Victoria and the rest of the Shine Night walkers will raise money to support new, pioneering research into treatments that will help future cancer patients.
Read more about Victoria’s journey to the walk on the Cancer Research website https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/victorias-giving-page-3621
Congratulations to these wonderful women. Their efforts are an incredible display of their care and courage, and the thousands of pounds raised will make a huge difference to all four charities.
If you feel so inclined, please do give generously to support these four amazing women in their achievements and do give them a great big hug next time you see them.
*The collective noun for jellyfish. Really.
