127 miles, seven days, two men…and one canoe. 

Two colleagues from MITIE, the strategic outsourcing and asset management company, will be undertaking a gruelling seven-day canoeing expedition along a 127-mile stretch of Britain’s longest river, the Severn - all in the name of charity. 

Colin Summers and Stan Cullen are carrying out the challenge to raise money for one of MITIE’s charities, Acorns Children’s Hospice. Acorns offers life limited children and their families a network of care at its hospices in Selly Oak, Walsall and Worcester, and through its community team who offer support at home. 

Colin and Stan’s route will begin at Pool Quay near Welshpool on 15 October, and will continue through Shrewsbury, Stourport and Worcester until they reach Gloucester. They will be canoeing an average of 21 miles each day and the challenge will take seven days to complete – a huge feat for two novice paddlers. 

To make it all worth while, they’ve asked MITIE’s suppliers, customers and contacts for donations, and have raised more than £7,000 so far for Acorns. To help make sure that every penny raised goes to the charity, they’ve also had their equipment donated, and have been given gym membership to make sure they’re fighting fit for the challenge. 

Commenting on the challenge, Colin Summers, Regional Manager for MITIE, said: “We firmly believe in giving something back to the communities we work in and wanted to find an innovative way of raising money – and this event has certainly captured people’s imagination! We’re expecting it to be a tough week, but we’ve got a great support team behind us and have done plenty of planning and training. So we’re hoping it will all be plain sailing!”

James Elliott, Acorns Fundraiser, commented: “These guys have given up a great deal of their free time to learn the canoeing skills they need for this challenge, so that they can raise much-needed funds for Acorns. Acorns doesn’t charge families for its service, but it cost £450 to provide a day of nursing care to a child, so the money raised by this event really will make a huge difference.” 

Donations can be made via www.justgiving.co.uk/thebigpaddle 

Colin and Stan will be leaving Pool Quay near Welshpool at 10am on 15 October. Journalists and photographers are invited to the event. 

Any journalists or photographers wishing to speak to the paddlers at any other stage of the course should contact David Revis or Donna Fooks-Bale (contact details below).

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For further information, contact:

David Revis, Investor Relations and PR Manager, MITIE Group PLC
T: 020 7034 7306, M: 07979 702465, E: mailto:david.revis@mitie.co.uk

Donna Fooks-Bale, Communications Manager, MITIE Property Services (UK) Ltd
T: 01454 275880, M: 07920 298127, E: mailto:donna.fooks-bale@mitie.co.uk

For general information about the company’s activities please visit:
www.mitie.co.uk 

What is MITIE?
We’re the strategic outsourcing and asset management company.

What does that mean in practice? Providing everything from strategic consultancy, to world-class delivery on the ground. From long-term infrastructure planning, to facilities management, property and engineering services. Our strategic input can add value at the highest level, while our practical management expertise can save customers money and maximise their returns.

At the same time, it’s not just what we do, but how we do it that makes us different. Our people are passionate about what they do, committed to working in partnership with their clients, and will always look for a fresh answer to a new challenge.

We work with our clients in three ways; some take full advantage of our whole range of expertise by buying the whole suite, others may only need one aspect of what we do:

Strategy and consultancy

+ Facilities and project management

+ Service delivery

In other words, we think, we manage, and we deliver.

The thinking phase is all about finding strategic answers to long-term challenges about assets and resources. Facilities and project management puts those plans in place, and our unrivalled range of services is one of the best in the business.

There’s a lot more to MITIE than you probably think. We’re a big company with big ambitions - a leading FTSE 250 support services business, with 49,000+ people, revenues in excess of £1.4bn, and a reputation for being the best.

For more information about Acorns Children’s hospice, visit www.acorns.org.uk