Corporate Vision March 2017

26 CORPORATE VISION / March 2017 , Managing Director of Charity Challenge, Director of 2017 – UK, Simon Albert tells us more about the organisation and the impact it has made to date. All in a Good Cause Simon Albert, managing director of Charity Challenge, the world’s leading fundraising challenge company, knows all about adventure. He has summited some of the globe’s highest mountains and volcanoes, trekked on the Great Wall of China and conquered the Andes and Himalayas. He has scuba- dived with sharks in Fiji, tackled grade five rivers while white water rafting and motor biked through Vietnam before Ewan McGregor made it cool! Simon set up Charity Challenge in 1999 aged just 27. Since then he has inspired tens of thousands of people to step outside of their comfort zones and push themselves to their limits to achieve incredible goals and raise vital funds for charities they are passionate about. In 2015, Simon was awarded a British Citizen Award at Westminster Palace for “his exceptional contribution to the community” with Charity Challenge, now a multi-award winning and highly respected business. The challenge portfolio features treks, bike rides, mountain climbs, rafting, kayaking, running and even dog sledding. Expeditions take place from the North Pole to the South Poles and every environment in between, including deserts, rivers, oceans, jungles, mountains and rainforests. The company also stages challenges for corporate employees to build schools, health centres and houses in developing countries. To date, Simon has helped raise over £50,000,000 for more than 1,700 UK, Irish and Canadian charities including Macmillan Cancer Relief, Cancer Research UK, Barnardos, the NSPCC, Comic Relief, MIND, the British Heart Foundation, Save the Children, and UNICEF. These funds have helped to provide protection for vulnerable children, shelter for the homeless and research into finding a cure to cancer. As part of its responsible business ethos Charity Challenge has also ploughed almost £500,000 back into local community developments projects in the UK and countries in which it operates. This funding has helped advance education, sanitation and environmental protection. Simon tells us exactly what it is that makes Charity Challenge an award-winning company. “Most companies say they go that bit further or try that much harder than their competitors, but I genuinely believe that we work the hardest in our industry to exceed the expectations of our clients. “I believe that years of focussing on trying to improve each individual component means that when you put the whole experience together, we outperform others. This means that Charity Challenge is with you every step of the way: from the first point of contact, through the booking process and pre- challenge support, to the rigorous expedition in a distant country. “We have an incredible team of people who are full of passion, inspiration and focussed on guaranteeing that our clients enjoy unparalleled adventures - which is why they return again and again.” The organisation works with charities who recruit supporters to take part and raise funds for their cause, as well as corporates who recruit their employees and other stakeholders for team-building, learning and development, boosting morale, demonstrating CSR credentials and more. Yet the majority of Charity Challenge participants are individuals and groups of people who choose to do something for a cause they feel connected to. “The reasons people embark on a Charity Challenge journey are many and varied, but all equally inspiring and require great courage,” says Simon. “This could be the loss of a relative or friend, overcoming an illness, the desire to give something back or just the ambition to push beyond your daily limits. Everyone comes wanting a challenge - and we promise that in extremes. Heat. Cold. Exhaustion. Elation. Fear. Euphoria. Loss. Gain. Early starts. Late finishes. Tough times. Good times. “We know that without a challenge — a genuine challenge — our participants won’t really appreciate their achievement at the end the journey. This is something we have seen time and again, having worked with tens of thousands of participants over the last 17 years. “The physical trip is only one part of their success. What might have been initiated by a desire to do something different - lose weight, get fit, remember a loved one, build team spirit - ends so differently for nearly all involved. The journey with Charity Challenge takes our participants to new destinations which they could never have imagined when they started: deep long lasting friendships, indescribable memories, huge gains in self-esteem, close up encounters with hidden cultures, new jobs, new futures, a sense of joy, respect, humility, passion and achievement.” Charity Challenge focuses heavily on providing an incredible experience to participants which leads to high levels of repeat business and positive referrals. “Our aim, in working closely with charity and corporate clients, is to become a trusted partner, rather than simply a supplier. It has certainly proved successful, as many of the organisations we deal with have stuck with us for almost two decades.” Charity Challenge has many achievements under its belt. It was selected by Comic Relief to organise the Red Nose Day Kilimanjaro Climb in 2009 for a host of celebrities including Cheryl Cole, Gary Barlow and Alesha Dixon. It was a hugely successful venture which raised £3.35m for the charity. Five years later they organised Comic Relief’s Hell and High Water challenge on the Zambezi River, which featured Dara O Briain, Jack Dee, and Mel C. In response to the Asian tsunami of 2004, Simon set up Community Challenge to take corporate employees to Sri Lanka and India where they built houses for communities affected by the disaster. In the first year, he inspired hundreds of individuals and companies to get involved and helped raise over £1.3m. The programme won a Responsible Travel Award and was highly commended by the Queen’s Award for Sustainable Development. It subsequently expanded to China, Mexico, South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Mali, Nepal and Cambodia with projects to build classrooms and schools, as well as health and community centres. 1702CV62