As part of their management training programme, Amlin, recently completed a 3-day CSR project.  The project included 2-days at Newlands Bishop Farm in Solihull, which is a social enterprise run by adults with learning difficulties.   The farm is helping young people of all abilities to find their feet and to grow in confidence and ability, whilst providing work, training and social skills for those involved.

The Amlin group built a shelter for recycling rain water which is next to the allotment.  The allotment provides food for the farm to sell.  They then built an irrigation system to fill water butts (which is about 5,000 litres) which helps water the garden and vegetables.  Then finished off by creating a farm shop out of an old stable to sell the produce in.  A fantastic achievement by all in just 2 days!   Why not do something like this within your company?  www.csrprojects.com

Across the Divide managing director Mark Hannaford has just recently returned from carrying out a site visit to the east African country of Malawi

Malawi in one of the poorest nations in the world but inhabited seemingly by some of the world friendliest – their catch phrase is that they are the ‘sunny heart of Africa’ and my experiences seem to bear this out. The scenery also exceeded my expectations with a great deal more variation than I expected from high but accessible mountains to verdant tea plantations as well as numerous small traditional African villages easily matching most people’s expectations of the ‘real’ Africa. It is also a highly traditional country with a well established network of missions dating back to Livingstone’s age of exploration engaged in a wide range of community initiatives along with a number of enlightened tourism operators who have also established a wide network of charitable or CSR projects – one of Across the Divide’s area of growth.

There are a number of excellent trekking areas in both the south on Mount Mulange and to the north of the country near the Ntchisi Forest Reserve which has the additional benefit of being only two hour’s drive from Lilongwe and which will, with further investigation, yield some excellent and worthwhile projects. A wide range of water sports are available on Lake Malawi including multi day kayaking trips.

Will we be including Malawi in out list of destinations – yes you bet we are.

Many thanks for to the Malawi Tourism Marketing Consortium for helping making the in-country arrangements.

Across the Divide is now on Twitter – http://twitter.com/AcrossTheDivide - come join us!!

Saturday saw the third successful Just Walk take place in the South Downs, West Sussex. The one-day walking challenge saw over 700 people walking 10, 20, 40 or 60 kilometres fundraise for a charity of choice.

The event was opened by Olympic medal winner and keen athlete, Acer Nethercott. Acer said, “Just Walk is a wonderful event. It’s fabulous to see so many people out in the open air, raising funds for their chosen charity. I hope to take part myself next year!”

Our biggest corporate team was a group of 80+ from Siemens.  Who were raising funds for a variety of charities from Cancer Research UK to Help the Aged.  Early reports is in total they’ve raised over £10,000.

Across the Divide began Just Walk as a result of continued requests from charities wanting to get involved in fundraising walks, but unable to invest time and money into their own events. To date, Just Walk has raised over £1 million for over 200 charities.

Gemma Phillips, UK Events Co-ordinator at Across the Divide says, “The event was a great success. It was our biggest year yet with a fantastic turn out on a beautiful day. The walk was tough in places but we had some very happy walkers crossing the finish line. Here’s to Just Walk 2010.”

The next Just Walk event will be taking place on 15 May 2010 and for a limited time only we are offering 10% off all registrations fees – so join us now.

Yes today is the day that Blue Peter are featuring the Namibia 24 hour Ultra Marathon. Blue Peter presenter, Helen Skelton ran the race and finished a very impressive 8th out of a field of 20 runners with only 12 finishing.

16.35 – BBC 1 don’t miss it.

So set your Sky Plus or watch on BBCi Player

We’ve just heard from the Namibia Ultra Marathon race director Steve Clark, that everyone is now back in Swakopmund. Steve said the race was very tough with temperatures getting up to 42 ºc. Winner Darren Roberts was very surprised and shocked to hear he won the race but once it sunk in he was delighted. Tom Adams very nearly caught Darren up at the finish line which made it a nail-biting finish.

Namibia 24-hr Ultra Marathon Results are as follows:

1st Place – Darren Roberts 20hr 28

2nd Place – Tom Adams 20hr 29

3rd Place – Tom Maguire 21 hr 05

4th Place – Emma Rogan 21 hr 27 – First female to complete the Namibia 24-hr Ultra Marathon

5th Place – Jerry Haywood 22 hr 30

6th Place – Nick Tidbull 23 hr 17

7th Place – Nicholas Wright 23 hr 45

8th Place – Helen Skelton 23 hr 50 – BBC Blue Peter Presenter

9th Place – Adrian Crossley, Stuart Moore, Kellie Power & Michael Skakesheff 25 hr 07.   These guys all crossed the line together holding hands, they were all just outside the 24 hour deadline but all were allowed to finish.

Why not join us in 2010 by taking part in our corporate team challenge. 

Richard Gibb DNF completed 121 km

Steve Tidbull DNF completed 106 km

Francis Jones DNF completed 84 km

Alexander Bamford DNF completed 66 km

Joakim Jonsson DNF completed 66 km

David Kidd DNF completed 66 km

James Dormer DNF

Stephen Godfrey DNF

Andy McMenemy DNF

John Peck DNF

Jack Ricketts DNF

Namibia Marathon Results

Alexandra O’Donovan completed the Namibia marathon in 17 hr 15.

A new course record and the first female.

So as you can see the race was tough as temperatures reached 42 ºc. Many runners felt the extreme heat was just too much with runners pulling out mainly due to heat exhaustion and heatstroke. This year’s conditions were harder than last years Namibia Ultra Marathon mainly due to the heat. All the marathon runners are now back in Swakopmund in good spirits.

Tom Maguire who finished 3rd still holds the race record of 17 hr 15.

Book your place now on the Namibia Ultra Marathon 2010.

We are pleased to have recently partnered with the Energy, Projects and Construction team at the legal firm, CMS Cameron McKenna. Historically, each year the team enjoys a Team Away Day and previous events included outward bound days and sailing trips.

This year they were looking for a team event that was challenging, fulfilling and most importantly would result in a tangible benefit for a charity or community group. They engaged Across the Divide (ATD) to help source, prepare and deliver their event.

The criteria for sourcing the charity partner and project were straightforward enough. The EPC team needed a project that would:

• engage the full range of people within their team
• be within one hour of London
• keep 70 people busy for one day
• and… most importantly result in a lasting and sustainable outcome.  

What we did next…   

Across the Divide explored possible options via our contacts within the charity and voluntary sectors. This resulted in a comprehensive long-list for the client. Possible projects included creating wildlife gardens in schools, constructing a woodland walk, decorating a home for young people and developing a community allotment. The project that client finally chose was to provide assistance at a Leonard Cheshire residential home for residents with disabilities.

About the project

The project proposed by Leonard Cheshire was designed to achieve two outcomes. Firstly, we would support the work of the site gardener by assisting with major maintenance work. The gardener looks after 6 acres of grounds and it can be a real struggle to find the time to deliver larger scale work. Our work involved:

• cutting back, pruning, tidying and clearing the trees/shrubs that lined the 150 metres driveway
• lining the driveway with marker posts to provide a safe route for residents 
• plant flowering bulbs to provide colour alongside the entrance to the site.

What a difference……

Initially the client wondered whether one day of activity could make a difference. However, 70 people volunteering a 7 hour day equates to 14 weeks full time for the gardener.

Secondly, the Centre was extremely keen to install two new features for the benefit of the residents:

• a sensory walkway accessible from wheelchairs
• two raised bed planters designed for growing vegetables

How the day went

After an initial welcome from the Centre Manager and a full briefing on health and safety, the groups got underway with the projects. For these events to be successful, it has always felt important to ATD that the participants/teams have full ownership for the project and can achieve the best possible outcome for the charity. To this end, each team was supported by a member of the Across the Divide team. Their role is to guide and advise the team on the technical elements of the project. The also manage and oversee the health and safety of the participants.  

By the end of the day, the team had:

• re-landscaped the driveway and generated over 25 trailer loads of green waste ready for composting.
• installed and painted over 75 marker posts alongside the drive.
• planted 700 spring flowering bulbs.
• constructed a sensory walkway and planted over 80 plants chosen for the sight, sound, taste, smell and touch qualities.
• constructed 2 raised bed planters designed to maximise wheel chair access and filled with 6 tonnes of topsoil. 

Across the Divide worked with the Simplyhealth Project team to design a CSR project that was worthwhile, innovative, sustainable and made ‘more people feel better’.  

Simplyhealth is a group of healthcare businesses that have joined together with the common purpose of helping more people feel better and engaged with Across the Divide to provide an innovative Corporate Social Responsibility Project.

The solution as partnership between Simplyhealth and the Goias State Government in Brazil providing matched funding and ongoing staff and equipment resourcing to build a small state healthcare centre in rural Brazil to serve the Kalunga people.

I’ve never been so proud in my life as when we stood in front of the building ready to hand it over to the villagers. Boyd Galloway

We chose Across the Divide to source and plan our trip, primarily because of the principles that underpin the way that they work. From the very first meeting we had, what they stood for shone through, and it meant a lot to us that they weren’t after a quick buck – they genuinely cared about the community we would be helping and the wellbeing of our staff.  Charlotte Willis, Simplyhealth.

Find out more about Across the Divide’s Corporate Social Responsibility solutions for companies by emailing Mark Hannaford here.

At the end of September 32 members of the Prince’s Trust Womens’ Leadership Group embarked upon a week long trip to Namibia, trekking 100km in one of the oldest deserts in the world. This is an extremely harsh environment. Although the night was distinctly cold, and even damp, the days became as hot as 34C and there was no escape from the rays of the sun for several hours at a time.

Although at times, sand and gravel seemed to stretch into eternity, this is in fact an incredibly varied and beautiful world. 250ft sand dunes, gravel plains, moonscape valleys, prehistoric plants, bizarre insects and lizards, ostrich, baboons, antelope and the footprints (thankfully) of big cats and hyenas were all encountered.

Great friendships were forged. There was laughter and singing. And a few tears of pain, success, and appreciation were shed too.

Everyone met a challenge, and everyone came through satisfied and proud, thanks to the determination and support of the group. The WLG has raised over £130k from the event to help them assist young disadvantaged women transform their lives through education and enterprise.

Mike Taylor, Expedition Leader

To view more of the Prince’s Trust overseas challenges click here.