As Premier has grown year on year its allowed us to be in a fortunate position that we can support selected local charities.
For the last few years, we have been delighted to be able to help Leicester based Hope Against Cancer and East Midlands based, The Star Trust.
Hope Against Cancer is well known in the Leicester area for the good work that it carries out. The Star Trust’s goal is to raise money that it can then distribute to a number of smaller local charities. Both charities have fantastic governance, to ensure that as much money as possible raised reaches those that need it.
We assist the Star Trust each year with the AV and on the day Event Management for their annual ball held at Stapleford Park. As well as this, they hold a handful of smaller events each year that we support them with.
For Hope Against Cancer we support them with the AV, décor and furniture for their annual fashion show as well as attend events such as their VIP tables at Leicester Races for Ladies Day.
This year we wanted to step up the level of support that we provide and so Premier’s Managing Director, Ben McCarthy took on the challenge of cycling 300 miles from London to Paris. We asked Ben what was behind this challenge:
“I had the idea when I was on holiday in February, I’m not a naturally fit person and so I decided that if I was going to get fit then I would need to set myself a challenge. I had been doing some spin classes at the gym and so it seemed to make sense that it should be a cycling challenge that I embarked on.
After a quick ‘google’ by the pool I found an organised London to Paris event taking place in September. The event was 300 miles, spread over a 4 day period with 2* hotels and food included etc. Considering that I didn’t own a bike and hadn’t done since I had a paper round back in 1997 the thought of cycling 300 miles was pretty terrifying. As part of the event, I would have to raise £1,600 for my chosen charity, Hope Against Cancer. At this point I wasn’t sure what would be harder, raising the money, or doing the cycling…..
I bought a bike in early March and since then have been out most weeks training for the big ride, with this all being put to the test in July when I took part in a 101 mile ‘training ride’. Since getting the bike I have cycled over 1000 miles as part of the training for the challenge.
For the fundraising element I was lucky that Libbie, Amy and Daisy at Premier organised a fantastic charity curry night at Leicester’s Chutney Ivy with lots of local businesses donating to the cause. We managed to raise £1,800 on the night (after costs) which was a fantastic achievement as well as being a big relief.
I kept my Just Giving page updated each time I trained so that people could follow my progress on their.
The ride itself took place last week and was extremely hard work, especially day 1 which rained all day, as we cycled from Crystal Palace to Dover and Day 3 when my legs were in serious pain as we cycled up some HUGE hills.
The good news is that I managed to complete it in a respectable time, had no punctures, didn’t fall off and only had to stop for a breather on two of the hills. It was really encouraging to be cycling along with 73 other people, all with their own stories of why they were raising money and their short cycling histories. Everyone really got along and their was a real team spirit amongst the group as we tackled each hill.
Thanks to everyone’s fantastic support we have managed to raise just under £3,000 which I am delighted with. I promised myself that I would never do another ‘charity challenge’ but who knows what will happen in the future.”
To find out more about the ride itself, read more about the training and add any sponsorship you can, see Ben’s Just Giving page by clicking here.
If you’re a small local charity looking for funding then we would also recommend that you contact The Star Trust through their website.
