Stonegate Group’s HR team has raised over £3,500 for the Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association on a sponsored walk. The team tackled the Ullswater Way, a 20-mile walking route that goes around the whole of Ullswater Lake in the Lake District. Despite the hot weather, Stonegate’s intrepid HR team persevered and raised much needed funds for the MND Association.
Tim Painter, HR Director of Stonegate Group, said: “Undertaking a walk around a lake sounds like a gentle stroll, but the combination of some significant climbing and temperatures in the mid 20s made it quite a challenge. However, we did it, we had a great time and managed to raise some important funds for our charity partner. I couldn’t be prouder of the team.”
The sponsored walk was just one of many upcoming fundraising initiatives that will take place because of Stonegate Group’s corporate fundraising partnership with the MND Association and MND Scotland. The partnership, announced earlier this year, runs across the national Stonegate estate, including its pubs, bars, venues and head office support teams, who will be working with the two charities across England, Wales and Scotland. To date, Stonegate has raised over £60,000 for the charities.
The MND Association focuses on improving access to care and providing information and support for people living with or affected by MND in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and MND Scotland does the same for those living in Scotland. Both charities fund and promote research that leads to new understanding and treatments and brings a cure closer. They campaign and raise awareness so the needs of people with MND across the UK are recognised and addressed by wider society. People with MND, their families and carers are at the heart of everything they do.
Ian Gardner, Head of Development at the Motor Neurone Disease Association, said: “We are overjoyed by the continued efforts of Stonegate Group’s team and their commitment to fundraising for the MND Association. We are extremely grateful for the latest donation raised by the HR team on their sponsored walk and contributions like these will help us support people living with MND, their families and carers. There is currently no cure or effective treatment for MND, so fundraising activities taking place during this Stonegate partnership will enable us to continue all-important MND research for treatments and a cure for this devastating disease.”
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NOTES TO EDITORS:
About Stonegate Group
Following the acquisition of Ei Group on 3rd March 2020 for £1.27bn, Stonegate Group is the largest pub company in the UK. Its portfolio is comprised of over 4,500 sites, split across the managed division and leased and tenanted businesses.
The managed pubs division, which employs over 14,500 people, is split into Branded and Traditional pubs. Branded is comprised of: Slug & Lettuce, Popworld, Be At One and Venues. Traditional (unbranded) pubs are made up of: Proper Pubs, Town Pub & Kitchen, Classic Inns, Common Room and Craft Union.
About motor neurone disease (MND):
- MND is a fatal, rapidly progressing disease that affects the brain and spinal cord.
- It attacks the nerves that control movement so muscles no longer work. MND does not usually affect the senses such as sight, sound and feeling etc.
- It can leave people locked in a failing body, unable to move, talk and eventually breathe.
- Over 80% of people with MND will have communication difficulties, for most this means a complete loss of voice.
- It affects people from all communities.
- Around 35% of people with MND experience mild cognitive change, in other words, changes in thinking and behaviour. A further 15% of people show signs of frontotemporal dementia which results in more pronounced behavioural change.
- It kills a third of people within a year and more than half within two years of diagnosis.
- A person’s lifetime risk of developing MND is around 1 in 300.
- Six people per day are diagnosed with MND in the UK.
- It affects up to 5,000 adults in the UK at any one time.
- It kills six people per day in the UK, just under 2,200 per year.
- It has no cure.
About the Motor Neurone Disease Association:
The MND Association was founded in 1979 by a group of volunteers with experience of living with or caring for someone with MND. Since then, we have grown significantly, with an ever-increasing community of volunteers, supporters and staff, all sharing the same goal – to support people with MND and everyone who cares for them, both now and in the future.
The MND Association focuses on improving access to care, research and campaigning for those people living with or affected by MND in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
About MND Scotland
With over 40 years of experience, MND Scotland is the leading charity providing care and support to people living with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) in Scotland. We fund cutting-edge research to improve quality of life, to discover meaningful treatments and to ultimately find a cure for MND. We campaign and raise awareness of the disease to ensure the voice of people affected is heard.
Press release from Stonegate Group
Contact: CatherineWiltshire@leisurepr.co.uk