Their Faces Really Lit Up

Over the summer, pupils at Flegg High School near Norwich travelled to Kenya, accompanied by Jon Green, Bertrams' IT Development Manager. Seeing a number of visits to primary schools were on the itinerary, he also arranged to take a company donation of books with them.

His son, Tom Green was on the trip and wrote the following thank you letter on behalf of his school. Of special interest are the photos he included to illustrate the huge impact the donation will make, even though to us it might seem relatively small...

Their faces really lit up

I would just like to thank you for the generous donation of books for the Flegg High School trip to Kenya in July.

The books were shared between the primary schools we visited and, as you can see from the photos the classrooms are not very well equipped at all.

The children are very poor and were really pleased with the lovely books they received. Their faces really lit up when they realised there were enough books for all of them. We think this will have a real impact on their learning.

Once again, many thanks, it was really appreciated by both the children in Kenya and myself and my classmates

Tom Green

Simon's Alpine Challenge: Non-stop

Simon is King of the Mountains!

My final blog entry is, rather appropriately, reserved for possibly one of the best known mountain climbs on the Tour de France - Alpe d'Huez. My mate Mike suggested that we should try to cycle the climb non-stop. That's 13km uphill with an average gradient in excess of 8% and an altitude gain of over 1000 meters! At the outset I was not confident that we could achieve this.

A dramatic view

We set off from the town of Bourg d'Oisans in sweltering heat so I made sure that I had taken plenty of liquids beforehand. The first 3km were extremely difficult with the gradient exceeding 10%. Even though I was going slowly I was right on my limit and thought I would have to take a break to let my heart rate return to a sensible level. Fortunately, I managed to ride through this rough patch as the gradient eased off a bit i.e. around 8%.

As we slowly ticked of the kilometers other riders would pass us offering words of encouragement. What pleased me was that many of these riders weren't going that much faster than us.

Eventually we reached "Dutch Corner", about two-thirds of the way up the climb. During the Tour de France this area is just a sea of orange: orange shirts, orange hats, as the whole area is taken over by Dutch cycling enthusiasts. At "Dutch Corner" I was feeling more confident about my prospects of doing the climb non-stop.

Phew! Made it :)

The kilometres ticked away slowly until we finally reached the last hairpin - Turn One. From here it was a long, drawn out final ascent to the town of Alpe d'Huez. The last 400 meters seemed to go on forever but we finally passed under the "Arrivee" banner about 2 hours after we had started the climb. We had done the ride non-stop - I never thought in a million years that I would be able to do it!

Now my Alpine Cycle Challenge has completed I would like to thank again everyone that sponsored me. I only need a few more pounds to take me over the £1000 mark so if anyone out there would still like to donate some money this can be done via my Just Giving web page.

Many thanks.

Simon

Simon's Alpine Challenge: The Big One

[caption id="attachment_3884" align="alignleft" width="640"] It's a long way down![/caption]



Today was the big one! - the Col du Galibier. We started out at 08:00 to get as many miles under our belts before the sun was high in the sky. On route to the Galibier we had to pass over the Col du Telegraphe, which was quite tough as it is 12 km long with gradients in the region of 8%. After the Col du Telegraphe we descended into the town of Valloire - a tacky ski resort. We couldn't wait to get out of it.

After Valloire that is where the real climbing began - 18km uphill to the top of the Col du Galibier.The first 10km were hard but the last 8km were the real killer with gradients in excess of 9%! For the last 2km I had no "fuel in the tank" and the air was getting thin so I really struggled over the final kilometer. Despite all pain we had to go through we finally made it to the summit about 7 hours after we had started out.

The views from the top were stunning and we could see Mont Blanc clearly in the distance. After a very rapid descent of the Col du Galibier we stopped of at bar on the Col du Telegraphe for a very well deserved beer, or two! We had a fantastic descent of the Col du Telegraphe, even passing cars and motorcyclists on the way down.

Arrived back at our hotel about 19:00 - a very long but very memorable day!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9hMNSl3Ryk]

As promised I have uploaded a video to YouTube showing our descent of the Col du Glandon. [If the embedded video above doesn't work, then try this link instead. It's just over 8 minutes long - Ed]

Tomorrow [i.e. today, Thursday - Ed] is a rest day then on Friday we will be doing Alpe d'Huez.

Wow Simon, you've given a prime example  of where there's no pain, there's no gain! It must be worth all the effort to be in the clear mountain air and sunshine, looking at that stunning scenery.

As Simon's account of his final day will reach Smiths News over the weekend, we'll be publishing his final Guest Post next week. Sounds like we're in for another treat :)

Simon's Alpine Challenge Day 2: The Hardest Climb

[caption id="attachment_3834" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The mountains around Col du Glandon with Mont Blanc just visible in the distance[/caption]

Well we made it! We reached the summit of the Col de la Croix de Fer and I can safely say it was the hardest cycle climb I have done to date - even Alpe d'Huez. It was a long hard slog of 30 km with very little respite and things weren't helped by the fact it was very hot day. I went through over 6 litres of water and isotonic drinks before I had reached the top!

When we got to the Col de la Croix de Fer the views were spectacular. We treated ourselves to a well deserved beer outside a cafe at the Col. Loads of other cyclists were there looking professional with their shaved legs!

After the Col de la Croix de Fer we moved onto the Col du Glandon where we took some more photos including a sculpture that had been prepared for the Tour de France that had only just passed over the Col du Glandon only a couple of weeks before us.

After the Col du Glandon we made a high speed descent to the Maurienne valley - the roads still covered with slogans and the names of Tour de France cyclists: Go Wiggo!, Allez Voeckler etc. I hope to provide a video of our descent of the Col du Glandon at some stage.

After we reached the valley floor I noticed that one of my water bottles was nearly falling out of its cage because it had become squashed - I then realised that because we had come from high altitude the increase in air pressure lower down was the reason this had happened.

The next big ride will be the Col du Galiber on Wednesday so my next blog entry will appear on Thursday.

Tomorrow is a well deserved rest day!

Simon's Alpine Challenge Day 1: Warming Up

[caption id="attachment_3805" align="alignright" width="224"] View of the hotel - looks like it welcomes cyclists![/caption]

As promised a couple of weeks ago, Simon Cousins brings us his first guest post about his Alpine cycling challenge. Without further ado, it's over to you Simon...

Well we finally made it to our destination, Saint Jean de Maurienne, after a 14 hour drive through France. Our hotel is in the centre of town and only a few yards away from the start of the Col de la Croix de Fer climb.

The weather today (Sunday) has been perfect, so we went out on a "warm up" ride along the Maurienne valley towards the town of Saint Michel de
Maurienne, which lies at the start of the really big climb of Col du Galibier. My legs felt pretty good considering that I hadn't done any training for the last 4 weeks due to illness, so we decided to do some small climbs for practice. These went well.

[caption id="attachment_3808" align="alignleft" width="300"] Imagine the noise from all those bells![/caption]

In the afternoon we drove up the Col de Madeleine, which is very steep and goes on for several miles. On the way up we passed several cyclists slowly grinding it out - which only reminded us of what was in store for us! At the top of the Col de Madeleine I took some photos. One photo I took was of about 200 cows - many of them were wearing a bell.
The noise they created as they clanked across the alpine pasture was pretty deafening!

Tomorrow is our first big climb - the Col de la Croix de Fer. It looks like it is going to be very hot so we are setting off early in attempt to avoid the midday sun.

I will let you all know how we got in tomorrow's blog.

Wish us luck!

Thanks for a great first post Simon - looking forward to your next one!

Angela Has a Real Mountain to Climb

Angela Sproston, HR's Group Recruitment Manager at Wakefield House has given herself a real mountain to climb this summer - Kilimanjaro.

This is is set to be quite a personal challenge as Angela describes herself as 'allergic to exercise'. In contrast her partner Brendan - who is also taking on the challenge - is a complete cycling and gym junkie.

Their reasons for taking this on? Angela explains:

Both Brendan and I have lost people close to us in the last few years to cancer and we want to raise money for Cancer Research UK to help fund their research into preventing, diagnosing and treating cancer.

So far they have raised £660.

My Wakefield House informant says Angela's made quite some head-way into her training, slogging it out on the Ridgeway and heading to the gym for plenty of squats and lunges. She can often be found hobbling round the office in pain after one too many lunges!

So let's make all that effort worthwhile by visiting Angela and Brendan's Just Giving page and showing our support. Angela says:

We would be really grateful if you could spare any money to help our cause. Please dig deep and donate now.

We'll keep you posted on Angela's progress between now and her climb at the end of July.

Mission to Malawi

Our last Travellers' Tale this week, whisks us away from our wintry weather, to the heat and dust of Africa...

[caption id="attachment_1366" align="alignleft" width="225"] Nicola carrying a toddler in the traditional manner[/caption]

Nicola Wright had only just started at Bertrams when she headed to Malawi for three weeks to get involved in a project designed to bring educational opportunities to children in rural areas. It was the trip of a lifetime for Nicola:

I used up most of my holiday for the year, but it was totally worth it!

Nicola packed plenty of things for the children such as pens, paper, skipping ropes and, of course, books! She explains:

I arrived on a Malawian public holiday so the kids were out of school and eager to play. That day, I played football, sang songs, danced, skipped, drew pictures and had the impossible task of trying to remember everyone’s names – prompting giggles from the children as, yet again, I got another name wrong.

[caption id="attachment_1367" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Sheltering from the hot sun[/caption]

Nicola set to work making learning fun. She taught the children the alphabet, sang nursery rhymes with them, and played games. It was exhausting, but there was nothing more fantastic than seeing all the smiling faces!

[caption id="attachment_1368" align="aligncenter" width="640"] It wasn't all work and no play![/caption]

It wasn’t all hard work for Nicola, as she also found time to visit Lake Malawi and go on safari. She’s even planning her next trip – I’m often asked if I’ll go back, and the answer
is not if, but when.

Even though she’s back in the UK, Nicola is keen to carry on helping the children she met in Malawi. Many of the children where I stayed walk miles and miles each day with no shoes, and children with cuts on their feet often get infections.

She’s collecting children’s shoes from friends and neighbours, which will be sent to
Malawi for these children, and would love it if the staff at Bertrams could help out. If you’ve got a pair of shoes that your child has outgrown, why not pass them on to Nicola and give them a new lease of life in Malawi? Any donated shoes are sure to be very much appreciated by the children who’ll receive them.

Email: Nicola dot Wright at bertrams dot com for more details.

[NB the email address is written out to prevent being picked up by spam programs]

A Triumph in Paris

Our second Travellers' Tale sees Head of Corporate Development, Max Livingstone-Learmouth heading off on his bike...

[caption id="attachment_1325" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Max and Sarah celebrate at the L'Arc de Triomphe, the traditional finish for the Tour de France"][/caption]

Max is clearly not a man whose dream holiday consists of a sunbed and a good book. Along with his wife Sarah, Max realised a long-held dream by cycling the exact Tour de France route in July, two days ahead of the professionals.

We cycled a total of 2,085 miles in a total time of 146 hours and 56 minutes! That’s 21 stages at an average speed of 14.2 mph, with 107 miles on average per day. We didn’t make the podium at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris with the pros, but as they say of all riders who complete the Tour: now we are ‘Giants of the Road!

We don’t consider ourselves hardcore bike racers, we like to go for more old school touring, with panniers on the bikes, nice hotels and plenty of French food at night, although we did put the panniers in a support van on this particular trip as the distances were so long.

The mere mortals among us would probably classify 143 miles on a bike (the longest day) or a 2,744 metre climb in snow and sub-zero temperatures (the highest ascent) as pretty hardcore, but Max and Sarah have had plenty of practice over the years! Over the past decade they have both run more than 10 marathons and cycled over 10,000 miles.

Max joined Smiths News in March and is particularly grateful to his boss Jonathan Bunting for allowing him to take to the road as planned:

Needless to say, I wouldn’t normally take so much holiday so soon in to a new job, but I had been planning it for over a year before I joined Smiths News, and Jon was great about it. He might think I am crazy, but life is all about dreams – personally and professionally – and he insisted we didn’t cancel.

So will it be a more relaxing sun, sea and sangria vacation for Max and Sarah next year?

Unlikely! We have a challenging but very exciting corporate development agenda for the year ahead, and as far as holidays go, we are planning to run a marathon in San Sebastian later this year, and having cycled from John O’Groats as far as Venice over a number of previous trips, there is plenty more of the globe to continue our journey!

Tall Ships Adventure

We're finishing off 2011 with a look back at some of the fundraising stories which made Autumn's editions of Dispatches. First up is Anya Perry's Traveller's Tale...



Anya Perry, Corporate Development Executive, recently took part in a Tall Ships race in Scandinavia. The race was from Stavangar in Norway to Helmstad in Sweden and took 6 days to complete. Anya and the rest of the crew sailed on The Stavros, at 60m long the smallest of their Class A ships, some of which reached up to 120m long.

One of the rules for entering the race is that at least half the crew have to be under 25, giving a fantastic opportunity to young people to partake in an amazing experience.
Anya describes her time on board:

Every rope on the boat had to be pulled by hand as there were no automatic winches, which was a different sailing experience for me. 

We also had to climb the mast in order to stow the sails away, and getting up in the middle of the night to go on watch was a regular occurrence, so it was a pretty different experience!

There were 69 boats in total on the seas, with 20 competing in Class A. Each crew consisted of up to 60 people!

Well done Anya, though I'm glad it was you on that mast rather than me!

From York to Nijmegen

Chris Atherton recently got in some extensive pre A-B Bike Ride training, by cycling 230 miles from York to Nijmegen in the Netherlands!  That's dedication...

Chris and his father set off from York, following the path to where Chris's grandfather fought in World War 2 at Nijmegen and across the German border.

They covered the 230 miles in 4 days and raised £400 in doing so, which has been donated to Help for Heroes.