Cheque it out 2009

North Tyneside 10k run - April

To many, the six mile journey from North Shields to Whitley Bay would be an ideal opportunity to take in the Fish Quay, Tynemouth Castle and St Mary's Lighthouse, not though however for four of our employees, who on Easter Sunday tackled the Northumbrian Water sponsored North Tyneside 10k in glorious weather conditions. Running for WaterAid and through the Cheque it out programme, Gareth Thraves, Dean Hall, Andrew Hopkins and Clive Surman-Wells have raised £250 for their chosen charity. Gareth Thraves commented: “Dean told me that we could raise £50 each as individuals or £250 if we entered as a team. It required very little effort so it made sense for the four of us to get together and raise money for a worthy cause, doing what we enjoy. I would recommend Cheque it out to anyone.”  (L-R - Dean Hall, Gareth Thraves, Andy Hopkins and Clive Surman-Wells).

Daisy Chain Abseil – Daisy Chain - May

Jill Young, Bill Wells, Holly Midgeley, Jackie Bainbridge, Lee Edwards and Alison Wilson took part in an abseil at the National Glass Centre in Sunderland on Sunday 17 May to raise funds for the Daisy Chain project. They applied to Cheque it out as a team application and received a £250 donation from the company, raising £800 in total - a fantastic achievement.

Lighting up lives charity cup

The Waterboys teamed up at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland to play like professionals in a tournament.  In the fourth annual Lighting up Lives cup, ten teams donned on their strips to take to the Academy of Light pitch to complete for the coveted trophy.  The players had the opportunity to use the first team changing rooms, refectory and even sample life in the hot seat with a pre match press conference in the media suite.  The final game went to penalties knocking the Waterboys out of the competition.  Pictured is Anthony Marriner from our human resources team at Pity Me being presented by SAFC legend Len Ashurst.  The
Waterboys applied to Cheque it out to contribute towards their team application.

Great North Walk - June

Janice Webster and Steve Bygate from scientific services completed the ten mile Great North Walk on Sunday 14 June on behalf of Diabetes UK, who were the main sponsors, and the NSPCC. Steve was walking for Diabetes UK along with his 13 year old son Adam. Adam and his older sister Louise both have type one diabetes and this is a charity close to both Steve and Janice's hearts.  Janice along with four of her Slimming World colleagues was walking for NSPCC under Slimming World’s SMILES charity - Slimmer’s Making It a Little Easier for Someone. Janice who is a Slimming World consultant in her spare time said: “Slimming World is in its 40th year and sponsors many charities and this year we are raising money for the Childline appeal - something I know NWL has also been doing. Myself and Steve are very grateful for the support from the Cheque it out scheme which has enabled us to give our sponsorships.”

Race for Life in aid of Cancer Research - June

Janet Watts from our HR team took part in the Race for life on 28 June 2009 and said ‘thank you very much for sending me a cheque for £50 from the cheque it out scheme. The cheque it out scheme helped me to raise valuable contributions for Cancer Research. I’ve been doing the Race for Life for the past four years in memory of a much missed friend who passed away from a cancer related illness. It’s an opportunity for me, my friends and Teresa’s family to meet up each summer and celebrate her life. One of the most poignant aspects of the day is reading the personal messages on other participant’s back plates and their reason for doing the race. It’s a sad fact that most of us will be touched by cancer in some way, whether directly or indirectly. I hope the money I raise will help improve the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. I hadn’t considered applying for cheque it out funding before, but was delighted when Northumbrian Water supported my money raising activities – thank you.’

Midnight Walk in aid of St Oswald’s Hospice - July 

The scientific services admin team at Howdon, comprising of Brenda Heppell, Helen Hawkes, Nikki Horler, Linzi Walker, Christine Crow and Ceri Finn, took part in the Midnight Walk in aid of St Oswald’s Hospice. The event took place on Saturday 4 July, starting and finishing at Gosforth racecourse.

To raise funds for the event they held a cake bake event on Monday 29 June, and this went down very well with their colleagues! There were lots of different cakes and biscuits for everyone to choose from and the team raised £73 from the event. Nikki Horler also volunteered to do a sponsored silence for four hours on Wednesday 1 July - anyone who knows Nikki will realise how challenging this was for her! Nikki's silence raised a further £35 for the fund, so well done to her!

Charity Golf Day (various) – August 2009

Dave Ingle and several colleagues took part in the Captains Charity Golf Day at Heworth Golf Course in August. Dave is the club captain and applied to cheque it out to help boost their funds. They received £250.00 as a donation.

Brian Hall Charity Golf Day in aid of cancer research (Sarcoma U.K.) The event was attended by 150 willing golfers making generous donations for the above cause. Prizes were also donated to a raffle, which was drawn on the evening. Northumbrian Water was represented by Ken Pratt, Bill Wilson & Geoff Taylor. The event raised £1410 on the day. Brian’s widow, Phyl, asked me to pass on her thanks for the donation of £250 given by N.W.L. Over the last ten years this event has raised more than £14000 for Cancer research. Once again many thanks for the professional help received from the two Janes from Corporate Responsibility.

Great North Run (various) - September

I would like to thank the ‘cheque it out’ scheme at Northumbrian Water for sponsoring me and helping me raise over £450 for leukaemia research. I decided to do the run in memory of my friend Michael Greener who sadly lost his battle with leukaemia in August 2008. He was a great friend and is a huge loss to everyone who knew him. Several members of his family and friends have carried out fundraising for leukaemia research and I decided to get involved by doing the Great North Run. It was a fantastic day, the weather was brilliant and the support and cheering from the crowds really spurred me on. I got round in a time of 2hrs 17mins (not bad for a first timer!) my legs were sore for a few days after but it was well worth all the effort. I would recommend anyone doing any charity fundraising to contact NWL’s ‘cheque it out’ scheme.

Got a good start by beating the traffic and spied many celebrities! The weather was a bit hotter than I would have liked for running but that’s something I couldn’t change! I was determined to finish no matter what as my dad and I had a lot of sponsorship money pledged for Willow Burn Hospice and couldn’t let them down. Felt great up to 11 miles then felt I had to slow a little. Was very glad to see the sea front at Shields and the last mile is the longest mile anyone will have to run. I finished in 1hr 56 mins. Thank you to my work colleagues at NWL for their kind sponsorship which went towards raising £500 for Willow Burn Hospice.

I wish to thank Northumbrian Water for their sponsorship of £50 to Meningitis UK for my participation in this years Great North Run. Meningitis UK support research programmes that specifically look at effective preventative meningococcal vaccines. The most common strain, group B, still has no effective preventative vaccine available. Having not ran the Great North Run for many years the 2009 event was a particular challenge. I found it very compact being positioned in the middle of 54,000 runners. Many of them saying “excuse me” as they squeezed past. My sprint finish did not materialise and about thirty of us waited patiently to walk across the finishing line. My time was fairly respectable at 1hour 56 minutes. It could have easily been 56 minutes had it not been for those in front of me. However with nearly all running for a charity a lot of money was raised. For my part I would greatly like to thank NW colleagues, friends and family for supporting Meningitis UK. We raised a total of £450. This contribution was in memory of friend and college Peter Ayre’s son Richard who died suddenly at the age of sixteen in 1994. Peter (Investment Delivery), also wishes to thank everyone for their support.

Zip slide - September

Tracey Forrest completed a zip slide from the Transporter Bridge, Middlesbrough on Sunday 6 September. The bridge has an overall length of 851 feet and an overall height of 225 feet making it the second largest transporter bridge of its kind in the world. She raised £265 for the Percy Hedley Trust.

A wriggly well done - October

Well done to facilities manager Dave Whiteley, who endured a whole hour with his feet in a bowl of live maggots in reception to raise money for breast cancer research. Thank you to those of you who gave donations and entered into the raffle. Dave raised a well-earned £174.23 for a really good cause. He said: “It started off quite ok as the maggots were cold and quite sleepy, but as they warmed up they became more and more active! Once I got used to it, it was quite a pleasant feeling!”

Children in Need – November

Employees at our head office in Pity Me, Durham, held several events in the hope of beating last year’s £3,000 total. They wore pyjamas to work and staged raffles, auctions and various competitions. Eight staff also signed up for activities without knowing what they entailed and applied to cheque it out to boost their fundraising. Those not taking part paid to watch them carry out the tasks, one of which involved eating eels, tripe and smelly cheese, while another included moving fish heads from one container to another.