Agent is braced for jump in the lake if Cardgains’ challenge total hits £2k
Sales agent Ian Bradley is half praying that very few people sponsor him for the Cardgains Look Out London charity challenge – because he absolutely detests cold water!
But Rush Design publisher wife Lorraine has made him promise to jump into the Serpentine Lake in the capital if their joint sponsorship total hits £2,000 for the 25-mile walk on 29 June in aid of the Motor Neurone Disease Association.
“I actually hate getting into water that’s colder than a hot bath!” Ian told PG Buzz. “But I have now agreed that if we raise over £2,000 then I will jump into the Serpentine Lake – please don’t sponsor!”
The couple are part of the Onion Bargee team with pals Caroline and Jon Ranwell, who are Cardgains members through their Hugs & Kisses store in Tettenhall, and among 44 industry folk already signed up for the buying group’s annual charity challenge.
The £2,000 total is for monies raised through Ian and Lorraine’s personal JustGiving page for the event – and industry pals such as Sabivo Designs’ Sabina Kovecha and Progressive Greetings’ Tracey Arnaud have taken the idea and run with it, suggesting under Ian’s Facebook posts that dinky Speedos as the required attire for the stunt in London’s Hyde Park.
“I believe I may now have agreed to budgie smuggler Speedos for over £3,000,” Ian laughed.
To sponsor any of the other walkers, Cardgains’ Look Out London JustGiving page is now live and donations have already begun, with all UK taxpayers able to use the Gift Aid option, which adds 25% to their donation.
This year’s cause is close to many greetings industry hearts following the death of the legend that was David Hicks, founder of Really Good and Soul, and it’s brought the Sheffield-based buying group’s annual event to his home town of London for the second time.
A 25-mile route around the capital has been mapped out for the event on Thursday, 29 June, kicking off at 7.30am, and the organisation’s md Penny Shaw is hoping 75 people from across the industry will be pounding the streets – you don’t need to be affiliated to Cardgains to join the throng.
Miles Robinson, chairman of Cardgains and co-owner of House of Cards, selected the walk and is undertaking a recce of the loop which starts and finishes in Paddington, taking in many of the waterways, parks and gardens, mainly on the north side of the River Thames, just slipping south for a short while around Waterloo, with the lunchtime support stop at the Olympic Park in Stratford.
Penny is hoping up to 75 walkers will take part, with the aim of raising £25,000 for the MND Association, which focuses on improving access to care, research and campaigning for those living with or affected by this disease in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
She added: “It’s only eight weeks to go and we’re hoping everyone is well and using the back-to-back bank holidays to do some walk training, getting mileage in their legs. We’ll be keeping a keen eye on the forecast for walking attire and footwear purposes – hopefully we’ll be needing sun cream not waterproofs!
“We’ve had a flurry of challengers joining us and still a few more who have pledged to join in, thank you to all – please remember to ask your sponsors to say who they are sponsoring so I can allocate the funds accordingly and, where possible, to add GiftAid.”
Walkers who have signed up to date include…
Abacus Cards, Sean Edwards
Allsorted, Lincoln Exley
Cardgains, Penny Shaw and Helen McManus
Chester Bentley, Alex Lambrechts
Creative Sparrow, Hannah Curtis
Danilo, Daniel Prince
Doodle Press, Chayelee McQuade
Emma Bryan Design, Emma Bryan
Emotional Rescue, Brett Smith, David Greaves and Jennie Rutter
Gemar UK, Mark Drury
Green And Wilds, John Elmes
House of Cards, Miles Robinson, Nigel Williamson, Tracy Murray, Lynn Viggers, Jarrod Lee, Leila Wignall, Jillian Williamson, Amanda Barker, Mark Wignall and Lisa Gilbert
Hugs & Kisses, Caroline and Jon Ranwell
Hyve Group, James Ambrose, Jason Carvey, Daniel Goodban and Ciro Dunlop
Industry friend, Tony Roberts
Nigel Quiney, Carl Pledger
Paperlink, Tim Purcell
Presentation, Andrea Pinder
Progressive Greetings, Warren Lomax, Tierney Spence and Jordan McEnTeggart
Really Good, Nicole Mendelsohn
Rush Design, Lorraine and Ian Bradley
UK Greetings, Christopher Beioley
Wendy Jones-Blackett, Steve Jones-Blackett
Words ’N’ Wishes, Tony Cottrell
Wrendale Designs, Lisa Marcuccio
If you’d like to join in the 2023 Look Out London Cardgains charity challenge click this link to register, or you can use the registration form pictured below, fill it in then scan or photograph and send to kerry@bridewelluk.co.uk. Once registered you’ll be added to the email distribution list for further details and information – these emails will come from the lookoutlondon@cardgains.co.uk address.
