January 2011
Halcrow’s Peterborough office has pulled together to raise money for the Halcrow Foundation to help fund a 4x4 for the Sue Ryder Albania appeal. The vehicle is needed to transport cancer treatment staff and medical supplies to the hard to reach areas of Albania.
Sue Ryder Albania needed £15,000 to purchase a 4x4 to enable the transport of both cancer treatment staff and medical supplies to seriously ill and underprivileged persons located in the rough and unreachable plains of regional Albania.
The Peterborough office applied to the Halcrow Foundation for help in achieving the £15,000 target in the required timeframe. The foundation challenged the Peterborough office to raise £1000 in one month and if successful would fund the remaining £14,000.
With only approximately 70 staff, a small creative team was put together by Halcrow’s Mandhy Senewiratne and Simon Morris.
With no canteen or vending machines and the local shops a 20 minute walk away, food seemed to be the winning concept. The foody fundraising consisted of:
* Desk delivery elevenses and afternoon tea with homemade goodies consisting of Simon’s scones, Bendall’s brownies, Mandhy’s masala tea, Rowney’s rock cakes, Fiona’s fruitcake, Fisher’s fairy cakes and Mike’s magnificent rhubarb crumble.
* A ‘home-made, non-sandwich all you can eat feast’, with all food donated by staff. With an impressive array of delicious cuisine ranging from home-made herb bread and sausage rolls, to Mediterranean cous cous and pasta salad, the feast was a sell-out.
* A permanent tuck-shop run by Halcrow’s Kate Rowney and Ellie Bendall. The tuck-shop consists of shop-bought products and home-made offers such as organic allotment grown marrows and rhubarb. Approximately £600 has been raised from the shop so far.
To achieve the final few needed pounds, the office cashed in on the world cup with football fundraising events, a “no thinking required sweepstake” as well as a more complex “test your football statistics knowledge”.
The office raised just over £1000 and with the Halcrow Foundation donating the £14,000, there is now a 4x4 cruising the Albanian planes, complete with a chemotherapy kit in the back.
Halcrow’s Mandhy Senewiratne said:
“This is a fantastic achievement for the Peterborough office and it’ great to see the 4x4 reaching 60 patients a day. We are looking forward to the next challenge!”