Added: 24 September 2015
Ipswich Building Society staff raise over £7,000 for local and national charities
10 of Ipswich Building Society’s staff have walked, cycled, canoed and skydived across the country to raise £7,025.86 for local and national charities throughout spring and summer 2015, with their donations match funded by the Society.
Kieron Blackburn, Finance Director completed the Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Race to raise funds for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH). The non-stop race is 125 miles long and takes place on the Kennet and Avon Canal and the River Thames. Kieron was racing in a two man kayak with friend Matt Wilke and finished 20th out of 49 finishers in the Senior Doubles. The Society match funded Kieron’s efforts to make a total of £1580.
On 16th May, a team from the Society’s Tower Ramparts branch ran and walked as part of the Midnight Walk 2015. Participants completed the 13 mile night-time circular course in aid of St Elizabeth Hospice which helps to improve the lives of those living with progressive illness. Altogether, the team managed to collect £896.86 in donations.
In June, Lynne Catling, Finance Technician, and her family walked 25 miles around Suffolk as part of the Orwell Walk. They collectively raised £1,239 for Cancer Campaign in Suffolk.
Ellie Camp, Personal Assistant to the Chief Executive, and her husband John took part in Ride London-Surrey 100 and the Dunwich Dynamo to raise £1,000 for Cancer Research UK in July. The Dunwich Dynamo is a 200 km night ride from London to the lost city of Dunwich on the Suffolk Coast, whilst Ride London-Surrey 100 celebrates the legacy for cycling created by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It follows a 100-mile route on closed roads through the capital and into Surrey’s stunning countryside. With leg-testing climbs and a route made famous by the world’s best cyclists at the London 2012 Olympics.
Charlotte Johnson, Customer Experience team leader recruited three colleagues to take part in a hair raising skydive in August for Diabetes UK. The team jumped from a plane to raise a total of £2,310.
Teresa Strange, Eastern Regional Fundraiser for Diabetes UK, said: “We are so grateful to everyone involved in this fundraiser, particularly those who took the plunge for us by jumping out of an airplane! All funds raised will help us support people with diabetes. There are 3.9 million people living with diabetes in the UK, and thanks to our fundraisers like this one, we can help them to manage their condition, as well as reach people at risk of Type 2 diabetes and fund pioneering research.”
Paul Winter, CEO of Ipswich Building Society, said, “It’s great to see so many of our employees and their families going that extra mile to raise money for charity, and that the Society can support them in this by match funding the donations they’ve received. I hope it inspires more of the team to get involved in fundraising activities to support the charities and causes they care about most.”