Once again we are amassing a talented team of Leeds professionals to run the 2011 Abbey Dash (10K) on Sunday 20 November 2011 in Leeds City Centre. Our aim is simple - we are looking to help two fabulous local ventures that do so much for the less privileged in the Yorkshire region.

Endless has agreed to match all the money we raise, £1 for £1, and our total target is £20,000.  The donation from the Abbey Dash will hopefully reach £5,000 and with the Endless £1 for £1 match this will enable us to reach half of our overall target.  

 If we can reach this, we will achieve the following;

A new climbing wall for all the children at Lineham Farm (based in North Leeds).

Support 5 vulnerable and homeless people through the Create Academy, giving them a new start in life.

Lineham Farm

Many of you will be familiar with Lineham Farm, a former farmhouse near Eccup Reservoir in North Leeds that has been converted into a well-equipped children’s centre.   Accommodation is provided on-site and groups of up to 24 children (primarily from inner city schools in Leeds) are invited to come for a residential stay from Monday to Friday.  Each day focuses on a different activity: working with animals; outdoor and indoor activities; team games etc.   For many of the children it is the first time they have ever been “on holiday”, had 3 hot meals a day and had a chance to enjoy life outdoors.   To say it has a positive impact on their lives would be a monumental under-statement.

We are aiming to provide funding for a new climbing wall for Lineham, the wall will be specially adapted so that children in wheelchairs will be able to access the wall as well.

CREATE

Based in Leeds, Create runs as a social enterprise, the profit they generate is re-invested in the business.  CREATE trains and employs a range of vulnerable adults (long-term unemployed, former homeless etc). They train them up in a number of areas of their operation with a view to helping them move on and get into permanent employment.   Students learn skills such as: forklift truck driving; health & hygiene; basic food preparation; catering etc.  Corporates such as Morrisons guarantee to take on a specified number of CREATE graduates per year.  We will be looking to provide CREATE with funds to continue their fantastic work. Just one of the many case studies from CREATE is below:

Joe is 41 and graduated from Create’s academy in May this year, following which he secured a position as a grill chef at Nandos. Joe has not worked since he was 16. Before joining Create, Joe had never worked in a catering environment but was inspired by his time in Create’s kitchen and the skills he picked up. Joe’s son is now joining the next Create academy. The cycle of worklessness in one family is being challenged and changed with the older generation leading the way. Create looks forward to helping Joe’s son gain skills, the same sense of achievement and a job.

Hopefully you feel a little inspired to join us or if not to make a donation!

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.

 

Current team members include; 

Laura Dixon - Endless, Sam Firth - Endless, Mathew Deering – Endless, Aidan Robson – Endless, Lindsey Lamb – Endless, Garry Wilson – Endless, Warwick Ley, Darren Forshaw - Endless, Ed Ransome – Endless, John  Alderton - Squire Sanders Hammonds, Laura Crawford - Squire Sanders Hammonds, Linda Mack - Squire Sanders Hammonds, Chris Keane - Squire Sanders Hammonds, Ravinder Saib - Squire Sanders Hammonds, Jonathan Jones - Squire Sanders Hammonds, Mark Ranson - Baker Tilly, Richard Ackers - Centric Commercial Finance, Paul Trickett –Deloitte, Barry Jackson – Deloitte, Chris Rooney – PricewaterhouseCoopers, Martin Jenkins  - Deloitte, Matthew Foote – Deloitte, Timothy West - Ernst & Young, Andy Haigh - Baker Tilly, James McDonnell - Baker Tilly, Matt Scott - Baker Tilly, Martin Athey - Baker Tilly, Robert Heaton - Ernst & Young, Michael Luo - Ernst & Young, Sean Bottomley - Ernst & Young, Helen Kavanagh  - Squire Sanders Hammonds, Ian Marwood - Grant Thornton, Jason Taylor - Squire Sanders Hammonds, Mark Pownall - Baker Tilly, Peter Helliwell - HSBC Bank Plc, Dan Smith – KPMG, Giles Taylor - KPMG, Chris Banks – KPMG, Neil McManus – KPMG, Graham Pearce – KPMG, Martin Landells – KPMG, Alex Jones - KPMG, Daniel Renton – Deloitte, Ewan Cochrane - Royal Bank of Scotland, Matthew Pollard - Royal Bank of Scotland, Jason  Heywood - Royal Bank of Scotland, James Adams - Royal Bank of Scotland, Andrew Smith - Addleshaw Goddard, Alan Metcalfe - Baker Tilly, Craig Hopwood - Northstar Equity Investors, Glenda Hyslop - Ernst & Young,  Roland  Barzegar - Ernst & Young, Clare Meek - Ernst & Young, Tim Vance - Ernst & Young, Richard Greenfield - Ernst & Young, Richard Marlow - Deloitte, Ian Briggs - Businessdesk.com, Matthew Brown - Pinsent Masons, Christian Mayo - KPMG, Peter Wood - Pinsent Masons, Tim Clarke - BDO, Vicky Conley - BDO, Andy Foster - Lloyds Banking Group, Rob Seldon - Deloitte, Stephen Moore - Rothschild, Adam Fearnley - BDO, Ben Vickers - Ernst & Young, Adam Read - Ernst & Young, David Brown - Deloitte, Chris Wilkinson, Martin Hargreaves