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Champion Fundraisers
Prize awarded to Earlex Ltd
The Mayor of Guildford, Cllr Tamsy Baker and Guildford Lions Club
were pleased to meet with the Raft Race team from
Earlex Ltd, at Earlex House on
Slyfield Industrial Estate in Guildford, on Monday January 23rd
to present them with a Champion Fundraisers Prize.
The Mayor congratulated the Earlex team on their dedication to
supporting the Lions Raft Race held every July. Earlex built and
crewed their own raft and crewed it to raise an amazing £4,007 in
sponsorship for the benefit of Disability Challengers and the
Waterside Centre.
This
brings Earlex’s total raised since they first entered the Raft Race
in 1997 to more than £20,000! Keith Hamblin, President of
Guildford Lions, congratulated the Earlex team on another brilliant
effort to help local charities, which in the past has also helped
other charities such as CHASE, White Lodge and Hydestile.
Second prize was presented by the Mayor to Cerebra Recruitment, who
raised an impressive £2,715 in sponsorship for the benefit of The
Waterside Centre. The prize was received by Ben Corke and Alex
Morris, who were both part of the team who took part in the Race.
This year the Raft Race raised a total of £14,400, of which £10,000
was used to help fund the redevelopment of the Waterside Centre,
which has since been opened and is in use by various local charity
groups, particularly acting as the home of the Multiple Sclerosis
Therapy Group.
In the 15 years that Guildford Lions have run the Raft Race it has
raised over £110,000 for local beneficiaries, and for all those
years the event has been chaired by Lion David Kitching and his wife
Carol. 2005 was their last year as they have decided to hand over
the mantle of running the event to another member of Guildford
Lions, Vice President Jeff Harkman. On behalf of all Guildford
residents Mayor Tamsy Baker thanked David and Carol on their
fantastic dedication over the years.
The 2006 Raft Race will take place on Saturday July 1st,
and Guildford Lions are keen for more rafts to take part. New Raft
Race Chairman Jeff Harkman would like to hear from any companies or
other organisations interested in taking part in 2006 “The
number of rafts has varied from about 25 to 60 over the years, and
are crewed by all sorts of organisations, from local companies’
staff to Scouts, Guides, and pub teams” he said.
The Earlex staff are happy to take on new challengers for the
various prizes at the 2006 Race. Julian Baseley, Chairman of Earlex
Ltd, wants to encourage other companies to take part, not only for
the fun of the competition, but also to give something back to the
local community. “It’s a really worthwhile way to raise funds and
involve staff in a fun event” he said. |
