Corporate News

Corporate teams run Bath Half Marathon for
Habitat for Humanity

Twenty-four runners from three corporate teams took up the challenge of competing in the Bath Half Marathon to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity.

Teams from North Somerset Housing, Connaught and Mouchel were among 15,000 other runners from all over the country who took part in the 13-mile race on 16 March.

Despite a delayed start due to the extremely wet conditions, spirits were not dampened and the first Habitat for Humanity runner, Patrick Gaskins from Connaught, finished the course in an impressive 1 hour and 21 minutes.

Two of the Mouchel runners, Eric Downey and Robert Pringle, were only 3 minutes behind him. John Hobbs was first in for North Somerset Housing in 2 hours 8 minutes.

Sponsorship money is still being counted, though the early signs are that over £4,700 has been raised by the teams already. These impressive funds will alleviate the suffering caused by poverty housing in the world, by providing Habitat for Humanity homes for those in great need.

em- Golf day

Habitat for Humanity was one of the charities that benefited from the £30,000 raised at the recent em- charity golf day.

em-, one of the UK’s leading mortgage packagers, organised the day, which was held at Buckinghamshire Golf Club and sponsored by GMAC-RFC Partners, in support of the em-foundation’s selected charities Habitat for Humanity, Cancer Research UK and The Treloar Trust.

Stars including ex-footballer Alan McInally, boxer John Conteh and Sky Sports presenters’ Jeff Stelling and Nigel Spackman joined representatives from the mortgage industry on the golf course to raise the exceptional amount.

The day was rounded off with a gala evening meal and a charity auction of sports stars’ memorabilia, which was hosted by comedian Roy Walker.

em- Operations Director Simon Mouncher commented: “It was fantastic to see such high profile celebrities play a few rounds of golf all in name of charity. We raised an exceptional amount this year and I’d like to thank everyone who took part.”

Photos courtesy of em-

Martin Currie Rob Roy Challenge - Wet but wonderful!

The Martin Currie Rob Roy Challenge involves hiking and biking 55 miles - it is not for the faint of heart. But this year's event needed extra gumption, thanks to the torrential rain that met the cyclists arriving at Kenmore - they really earned their sponsor money! In spite of conditions, a staggering 91% of the 568 starters achieved a gold medal.

Last year's event raised £125,000 for Habitat for Humanity, enough to build 100 homes in the developing world. Thanks to all who contributed to make this year's event as successful - Martin Currie, Events and Activities, the participants, and our volunteer marshals.

See the Rob Roy Challenge video.

See the Rob Roy Challenge website for more pictures of the event.

IBM Women Build Homes and Leaders

In July, an all women team from IBM visited South Africa to help build homes for HIV/AIDS orphans. They travelled with management development company Enable with the aim of also learning skills they could put into action in the workplace.

Team leader Tracey Gilbert commented, “We had all worked in project teams at IBM, but we never had such a strong vision or desire to succeed. If we had simply laid bricks on bricks, we would just have built a house. But we came to see that the project was more than just the task in hand: through exchanging stories with the community and playing with the children, stereotypes were challenged, barriers were broken down, and the experience was the more rewarding for everyone. Being focused is important, but you need to keep sight of the bigger picture.”

Housebuilder of the year supports Hopebuilders

In April, Miller Homes was awarded the prestigious title of “Housebuilder of the Year” by Building magazine. In the same month, two of Miller Homes' employees achieved an equally impressive but different milestone as they set out on "Le Tour de Miller", a highly ambitious sponsored cycling challenge. Craig Ferrans and Simon Hatch, from the Divisional Design Team, cycled 750 miles from Glasgow to Basingstoke in 14 days, stopping at all 9 of Miller Homes' regional offices en route.

Between them, and with the strong support of their colleagues at Miller Homes, Craig and Simon raised more than £23,500 - a truly staggering amount! Of this total, £12,350 is being donated to Habitat for Humanity for HopeBuilder homes, and is enough to enable 10 families in the developing world to build their own homes. The remaining money is being donated to the Princes Trust and Sustrans.

We are truly grateful to them for their efforts - well done, guys!

Law firm staff lay the foundations of a better life

Ask anyone who has ever been on a Habitat for Humanity build, what the most back-breaking work is and they’ll most likely reply “digging foundations”.

But it is with exactly that in mind that our latest team from international law firm Freshfield Bruckhaus Deringer went to South Africa recently.

In just over a week, the team not only dug and laid the foundations of another Habitat for Humanity home but even managed to complete a few courses of the house.

Supervised by skilled Habitat for Humanity staff, the Freshfields team set about their tasks with colleagues from other areas of the company - some of whom they had never even met. The end result was a happy (but tired) group of builders and the beginnings of a simple, decent home that the next Freshfields volunteer builder team would complete.

Thanks to all of our volunteers from Freshfield Bruckhaus Deringer, past, current and future, for partnering with Habitat for Humanity and your superb efforts in helping more families to a better life.