Keith Small - Christie fundraiser
Eighteen months ago we at the Waterside Hotel and Leisure Club wanted to try and get companies and businesses in Didsbury to get active and have some fun in the name of charity, and so began the Didsbury Business Games.
Deciding on
The Christie as our charity was an easy decision as it is very close to many
people’s hearts in the local community, so we invited some other organisations
to get on board and become founding partners.
The response
was incredible and very quickly we had Towers Business Park, Tenpin Bowling,
Didsbury Sports Ground, Food Sorcery and Parrs Wood High School on board to
make the games a success.
In just six
weeks we raised £7,000 – way more than our £5,000 target. As a result of such
positive feedback, we knew we should make it an annual event and we were
determined to make the 2018 games bigger and better.
This year, 11
companies and organisations took part, with Booth Ainsworth, Sterling Partners,
We Buy Any House, Grosvenor Casino, The Albert Club, Amoria Bond, Eclectic
Hotel Collection and Pabla and Pabla Solicitors all joining in.
Taking shows
like The Krypton Factor and the Crystal Maze as a loose basis, we developed a
set of games that would include both mental and physical aspects to make sure
everybody could join in the fun. The games ran every Wednesday for six months
with points awarded for each round.
They included
ten pin bowling, a Bear Grylls outdoor cooking challenge, a school sports day,
a cocktail making event, dodgeball and a quiz night.
The 2018
winners of the Didsbury Business Games were Booth Ainsworth and the final table
can be viewed here: www.didsburybusinessgames.co.uk/leaderboard/
As well as earning
points for competing in the challenges there were bonus points for fundraising
efforts which we were helped with by Jen Bailey from The Christie charity.
Everybody had
such a good time and really bought into the spirit of the events and we managed
to raise more than £14,000 which was really incredible as we had set a target
of £10,000. As well as raising the money we have all made new friends and to
get out of the workplace for such a rewarding experience has helped all of us.
All the funds
are going to support proton beam therapy research. This will help to make sure
that the new high energy NHS proton beam therapy service opening this year at
The Christie will remain at the cutting edge of treatment for decades to come. Previously,
patients have had to travel to other countries for this therapy so it is great
to be able to support research into such a vital new service.
For more
information about the Didsbury Business Games or to register an interest in the
2019 games, please contact info@didsburybusinessgames.co.uk
- we’d love to have you on board.
