Member Article

Overbury Raises Over £16,000 For Local Causes

Generous employees of national fit out and refurbishment business have smashed their fundraising targets for chosen charities in the North West. Overbury, a leading UK fit out and refurbishment business, which has offices in Manchester, Glasgow and Leeds, has already raised £16,000 for local causes this year, as part of its commitment to supporting the communities in which it works.

Technical services manager, Chris Healing who lives in Glazebrook, Warrington has undertaken a number of physical challenges to raise £10,000 for The Children’s Adventure Farm Trust (CAFT) – a Knutsford-based charity located near his fit out project in Cheshire. The charity runs activity camps and care programmes for terminally ill, disabled and disadvantaged children from across the North West.

Chris’s first achievement was the Three Peaks Challenge, which he completed with five colleagues (John Wood, Rob Kelly, Ian Turner, Dee Davies and Cheryl Ford), in 23 hours hours, summiting Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon. Over the summer, Chris also plans to complete an open air swim at Salford Quays, the Salford Quays Triathlon and the Bassenthwaite Triathlon to raise a further £1,500 for CAFT. Chris said: “I wanted to support CAFT as a local Cheshire charity that helps so many young people who would not otherwise be given these kinds of opportunities. The work that it does is so inspiring and I am proud that we’ve been able to raise such a significant amount.”

Other causes that have benefitted from Overbury’s fundraising efforts include Reuben’s Retreat, The Downs Syndrome Association and the children’s ward at Leeds Hospital. Like Chris and the others, project manager, Gennaro Sarno completed the Three Peaks Challenge earlier this year. Gennaro raised £5,000 for Reuben’s Retreat, a charity that provides retreats in the countryside for the families and friends of those who have lost or who are raising a terminally ill child. He was supported by his team who are currently fitting out the new Ericsson office in MediaCityUK.

Going to new heights site manager, Mike Alker and assistant site manager, Kevin Rider raised £1,600 for The Downs Syndrome Association. Choosing the charity to support a fellow team member working on a fit out in Manchester, Mike and Kevin plummeted 15,000 ft in a sky dive over Lancashire to raise money.

Overbury northern’s managing director, Peter Knight said: “We give our team a day each year to take on a charity initiative. This year everyone has been really proactive in identifying causes that have a positive impact on the areas surrounding our projects. “Physical challenges like swimming, mountain climbing and skydiving are impressive, but so are the smaller initiatives. “As a construction business, we are fortunate that our people have practical and managerial skills to offer the local community and I am extremely proud of the way our team has supported so many good causes.”

The JustGiving pages for the 5 event challenge is: www.justgiving.com/thecaft5eventchallenge

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Rachel McMaster .