Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Bryan Clover, ceo of Rainy Day Trust (RDT), successfully completed a non-stop 24-hour hiking marathon on June 21 to raise funds for the industry charity’s apprenticeship support programme.
He trekked a total of 85.4km (53.4 miles) along The Ridgeway [an ancient trackway described as Britain’s oldest road that extends from Wiltshire to the River Thames], starting west of Marlborough and finishing north-east of Oxford – and raised over £3,500 including Gift Aid for the programme in the process.
Bryan said: “We launched our apprenticeship support programme about two years ago and since then it has really flown. Giving youngsters a decent qualification is a great way of making sure they can hit the road running when it comes to finding a job after school. But it isn’t an easy option, as the kids have to crack on with their academic work in the evenings too, so it’s almost a 24-hour a day job while they serve their apprenticeship. That’s why I decided to do a 24-hour hike: to raise awareness of apprenticeships and how we support them – and then raise as much money as I could to back the kids up.”
While waiting for his lift home at the end of his endeavour, he logged into his RDT e-mail account and noted that during the hike, six new apprentice applications had been received. “An apt indicator that what we do is needed,” he commented.
Bryan added: “My heartfelt thanks to Lawsons Builders Merchants for being the lead sponsor, and to AkzoNobel, ACO, Monument Tools and Reisser for their business sponsorship. We are incredibly grateful.”
His Just Giving page is still open, so you can still support Bryan’s achievement at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rainyday100
RDT operates across three sectors (builders merchants, DIY & Hardware and Housewares & Tabletop) which have a combined turnover of more than £50 billion and employ close to 500,000 people. It is the only charity which exists solely to help people who have worked in these industries, including DIY shops, hardware stores, builders merchants, garden centres, cookshops, and all the manufacturers, distributors and retailers in the UK who supply them.
