Hundreds unite at UK Rail Industry Awards to support Andy Ridout
12th March 2015
The mega-triathlon fundraising campaign heated up this past week when Andy Ridout, Managing Director of advance-TRS took to the stage at the UK Rail Industry Awards. Ridout made an impassioned plea to more than 800 rail professionals, calling for them to ‘dig deep’ and donate.
Hundreds of guests donated generously towards the campaign and by the close of the night, more than £4,800 worth of donations had been raised; a fantastic achievement!
The UK Rail Industry Awards is an annual spectacle aimed at recognising exceptional contributions to the industry over the past twelve months. Founded by Rail Technology Magazine, the awards boasted a keynote speech from Peter Wilkinson, managing director of passenger services at TfL and a video-link message from Baroness Kramer, minister of state for transport.
“It is a testament to the generosity and integrity of the industry, that everyone was able come together and raise such a substantial amount of money for what is an outstanding cause,” says Andy.
“I am incredibly grateful to Rail Technology Magazine for helping provide a platform for us all to make a difference to the lives of thousands of children worldwide.”
Back in November in 2014, Ridout inspired members of the Institution of Railway Signalling Engineers in Glasgow to donate more than £2,212 to the campaign. The current fundraising total now sits at an impressive £7,542 and is still rapidly rising.
Andy jets out to Nepal on the 13th of March to climb to the base camp at Mount Everest. Andy and company will hike more than 113km up and down Everest in a trek that will take around 12 days to complete. Everest Base Camp is the famous camping plain that sits at 15,575ft above sea level, almost two-thirds of the way up the world’s highest summit.
Then in June, Andy will be cycling the Wiggle Dragon ride, undertaking the maximum distance option aptly named the Dragon Devil. The challenge will see Andy cycling a thigh burning 302 kilometres through mountainous South Wales. The length of the challenge is only half of the problem however, as the route requires approximately 3,437 metres of climbing with a maximum elevation of around 530m.
To cap it off, Andy will boldly swim the length of the Loch Ness at the tail end of 2015. The Loch Ness swim is approximately 23 miles in length, taking around 11-12 hours to swim in water as low as 7 degrees Celsius!
There is still time to donate, simply visit http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/AndyRidout.
“Together, we can all advance.”
