A team from leading soft drinks brand Vimto, is preparing to scale Kilimanjaro hoping to raise in excess of £25,000 for the company’s chosen charity; Warrington Youth Club.
The team of six tackling the mite of the summit includes James Nichols who is the great grandson of the inventor of Vimto, John Noel Nichols. He is joined by two department heads, Tim Spur and David Perkins from the Warrington based soft drinks company.
Keeping them company are a number of suppliers who work with Vimto including; Steven Watt from Rose Confectionery, Bin Donaldson from juice supplier Cobell and Paul Heesterman from flavour supplier Sensient. The chairman of Warrington Youth Club, Nick Hopkinson will be leading the expedition which set out this week (March 2nd).
Vimto has chosen to support local youth initiative Warrington Youth Club during 2014 through a series of charity fundraising activities with a target of raising over £50,000. The Vimto team’s other fundraising activities planned for 2014 include a charity Golf Day in May, a gala dinner, marathons, 10k runs and many other smaller fundraising plans.
The company, with its head office located in Warrington, decided that in 2014 it wanted to work with a local based charity that would benefit the high number of disadvantaged young people in the community and encourage employees to get involved in a variety of ways.
James Nichols, from Vimto said: “We are looking forward to tackling Kilimanjaro. It is something that we’ve talked about and trained hard for and now we just want to get there. We are delighted that industry suppliers are joining us and others are sponsoring to help us raise more than £25,000 for Warrington Youth Club.
“We are supporting Warrington Youth Club throughout 2014. It is not just a youth club in the traditional sense of the word, it educates young people and deters them from getting involved with criminal activity. The club offers a number of mentoring programmes that help to inspire young people to believe in themselves. Without places like Warrington Youth Club, these kids are lost and will go onto live outside of society.”
Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest free-standing mountain in the world at 5,895 metres or 19,341 feet above sea level. The team has chosen to take the Rongai route, which is the least trekked due to the steepness of the final ascent and involves around 4000 metres of ascent in just five days.
Dave McNicholl, chief executive of Warrington Youth Club and part of the trekking team said: “We are thrilled to have the team from Vimto supporting us. All of the funds raised from this trek will support some of the most vulnerable and
disadvantaged children and young people. Many of these young people have become disillusioned because of a lack of opportunities to gain meaningful employment. These funds will help raise their skills, confidence and aspirations.”
Warrington Youth Club is a safe place for children and young people to meet off the streets. The goal of the club is to interact with young people, to offer them choices that they don’t currently have. It offers a place where they won’t be bullied or abused; where they will be listened to and cared for.
Many of the young people at the club have some form of disability. From autism to wheelchair users, the club caters for all and provides them with a safe environment which helps show them that they have choices in life.
To donate to the Kilimanjaro challenge please go to:
www.virginmoneygiving.com/vimto4wyc
The full Vimto team is made up of;
James Nichols, Vimto
Tim Spur, Vimto
David Perkins, Vimto
Steven Watt, Rose Confectionery
Bin Donaldson, Cobell
Paul Heesterman, Sensient Flavors
Accompanying the team will be:
Nick Hopkinson, chair of Warrington Youth Club
Dave McNicholl, chief executive of Warrington Youth Club
Nick Byrne – WYC supporter
Steve Clayton – WYC supporter
Gron Ffoulkes- Davies, WYC supporter
About Warrington Youth Club
Warrington Youth Club is a registered charity (No 110186) based right in the heart of Warrington. The Club is open five days a week and welcomes all young people aged 7-25 years old.
Warrington Youth Club “Inspiring young people to achieve”
Follow us on Twitter @WYC_official
