12.06.2011

Trainee charity challenge

Five management trainees from UK based Lavendon Access Services have set themselves a gruelling cycle challenge to raise at least £5,000 for the Lighthouse Club Benevolence Fund by cycling from Scotland to Cornwall.

The effort has been sponsored by a number of industry suppliers such as Haulotte, JLG and IPS and an auction of the highly specified bikes will take place at the evening networking event during Vertikal Days.
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Raising a minimum sum for charity is one of the tests the trainees must complete during their two year programme.

The group - Carl Torcetti, Estel Nixon, Joe Keely, Matthew Ross, and Stephen Whitfield - has chosen to cycle between the two most distant Lavendon depots in the UK - Nationwide Platforms Aberdeen and Panther Liskeard. The team will also pass by as many Lavendon depots on the way as they can, including EPL Skylift Leeds and the Lavendon group headquarters in Lutterworth.
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The eight day route

The aim is to raise as much money as possible for the Lighthouse Club which works to support the families of those who have been badly injured or killed while working in the construction industry.

The bikes all new, have been donated by Haulotte and will be auctioned off to the highest bidder at Vertikal Days before the ride takes place. Clothing and spare parts have been provided by JLG with safety equipment and food donated by IPS. Other sponsors include Pirtek, Vodafone, Speedy Retail, Total Butler and BMI UK.

Each day the fund raising efforts will be aided by another Lavendon employee riding the sector – the longest of which is 118 miles - in order to help boost the sponsorship funds that the effort raises, while giving each team member one day off.
They include:
Day 1: Emily Lowth
Day 2: Richard Miller
Day 3: Dan Smith
Day 4: Mike Potts
Day 5: Paul Hickling
Day 6: Rob McMeeking
Day 7: Mick Ledden
Day 8: John Lee

The event will take place between the 8th and 15th of July. If you wish to make a donation please visit the management trainees’ fundraising page at www.justgiving.com/managementtrainees . You can also keep yourself updated with their progress at www.lavendonmanagementtrainees.wordpress.com.

Mark Everett, the chairman of trustees for the Lighthouse Club Benevolent Fund, said: “I am delighted that the Lavendon trainees have decided to raise money for the Lighthouse Club. Without this sort of support, we would not be able to help the hundreds of families annually that find themselves in need of financial support. Since the charity formed we have given away more than £6 million to construction related families in the UK and Ireland.”

Lavendon management trainee Joe Keely added: “Part of the brief for our Trainee Scheme was to raise some money for a charity of our choice through any form of fundraising event. As a team we decided we not only wanted to raise a substantial amount of money, but we also wanted to ensure the money went towards a charity that supports people working within one of Lavendon’ s biggest customer bases.”
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