SHIRLEY BUSINESS STEP OUT TO RAISE MONEY FOR THE CURE & ACTION FOR TAY-SACHS (CATS) FOUNDATION
13 intrepid adventurers from Shirley-based Energy & Utility Skills (EU Skills) Group are set to put their best foot forward as they tackle Yorkshire’s finest and biggest peaks.
The team, who have been training hard since March 2013, decided on the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge to mark May’s National Walking Month, as well as to raise money for the Cure & Action for Tay-Sachs (CATS) Foundation, as part of their year-long fundraising campaign.
Tay-Sachs disease is rare and usually fatal genetic disorder that causes progressive damage to the nervous system. Symptoms usually begin at around five months of age, when a previously normal child’s development begins to slow and they gradually lose their ability to move. The CATS Foundation provides information and support to people affected by Tay-Sachs, to raise awareness of the disease and provide fundraising opportunities for research so that a potential treatment can be found.
The challenge will take place on Saturday 18 May 2013 and will involve the team attempting to scale Yorkshire’s three highest peaks, Pen-y-Ghent (694 metres) Whernside (736 metres) and Ingleborough (723 metres), a total distance of 24.5 miles in less than 12 hours.
This challenge follows in the footsteps of numerous EU Skills’ challenges including two successful National Three Peaks Challenges and last year’s Lake District 20 Peaks Challenge but this is by far, the biggest EU Skills troop to head off into the wilderness!
Challenge organiser, Susie Thomas, Employee Communications Manager at EU Skills said: “We’re really excited about this challenge. Although it’s slightly tamer than previous events, walking for 12 hours non-stop when you’re tired and achy is going to be the real challenge! We’re really proud to support National Walking Month and the CATS Foundation and we hope that we can raise as much money as possible for this very worthy cause and help contribute towards finding a cure for Tay-Sachs.”
Daniel Lewi, Charity Director at the CATS Foundation said: “We were honoured to be chosen as one of the charities that the EU Skills Group will be supporting during 2013. As a small charity, the support we receive in raising awareness of Tay-Sachs is vital and to have a whole company get behind us really helps get our message out the wider public.
Susie and her colleagues are undertaking a huge challenge and they know that every step they take, every penny they raise will go towards our fight against Tay-Sachs and supporting families affected by this awful disease.”
Last year, EU Skills raised more than £10,000 for a variety of worthy causes including Marie Curie Cancer Care, The Stroke Association and Help for Heroes.
To support the walk and donate to EU Skills’ Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge please visit https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/yorkshirethreepeaks2013
-ENDS-
For further media information please contact Susie Thomas, Employee Communications Manager at Energy & Utility Skills:
T: 0845 077 07 13
E: communications@euskills.co.uk
NOTES TO EDITOR:
Issued by: Caroline Moverley-Judd, Product Marketing Manager at EU Skills
T: 07711 007 245
E: communications@euskills.co.uk
Date of release: 14.05.2013
About Energy & Utility Skills:
Our Vision: Ensuring our industries have the skills they need now and in the future.
Energy & Utility Skills (EU Skills) is the Sector Skills Council (SSC) for the gas, power, waste management and water industries, licensed by Government and working under the guidance of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES). Employer-led, our purpose is to ensure that our industries have the skills they need now and in the future.
The energy and utilities sector is fundamental to the success of the UK economy and is crucial to the way modern society functions. It is critical to facilitate an adequate supply of competent people to develop, maintain and enhance the sector.
A skilled workforce is vital for meeting the challenges of an increasingly competitive global economy and particularly during this tough economic climate, where skills are the key lever for successful competition.
EU Skills commitment is to raise employer engagement, demand and investment in skills, to ensure that we have authoritative labour market information for all of our industries and to develop National Occupational Standards (NOS) to ensure that qualifications meet employer needs.
For further information about EU Skills please visit: www.euskills.co.uk
About the National Skills Academy for Power:
The National Skills Academy for Power (the Skills Academy) works in association with Energy & Utility Skills (EU Skills), the Sector Skills Council (SSC) for the gas, power, waste management and water industries.
The Skills Academy has a critical role in delivering the training and development needs of the power sector. Through collaboration with leading employers, the Skills Academy aims to develop the quality and consistency of training and deliver a sustainable and flexible talent pool. Skills Academy members include Balfour Beatty, E.ON (UK), National Grid and Scottish Power.
Initiated by Government, the Skills Academy recognises that overcoming skills challenges in the power sector cannot be done by one organisation alone. The Skills Academy brings together market leaders to create the engineers of tomorrow, to respond to a rapidly evolving and increasingly sophisticated power industry.
Through Think Power, an initiative of the Skills Academy, key UK power companies and training providers have joined together, using their experience and knowledge to champion the benefits of working in the Power Sector, which offers: job security, a variety of work, great training and development opportunities, as well as the chance to contribute to the important future energy challenges faces by the UK.
By challenging perceptions and introducing fresh ideas about the sector, Think Power aims to encourage more people into the Power Sector, which in the coming years will need to recruit 50,000 technicians, craftspeople and engineers for key projects.
The Think Power website promotes the fantastic careers and benefits on offer. It also offers an online vacancy service whereby Members of the Skills Academy can post their vacancies and individuals can search and apply for jobs in the Power Sector.
For more information about the Skills Academy, please go to www.power.nsacademy.co.uk
For more information on Think Power visit www.thinkpowersector.co.uk
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