A pair of Yorkshire lawyers who will be embarking on the 3,000-mile World’s Toughest Row across the Atlantic in December this year, have smashed the £150,000 fundraising target for their nominated Yorkshire charities, Maggie’s Home of Cancer Care and Friends of Alfie Martin, following the success of a charity ball.
The mammoth target set by Team Greens2Blue rowers David Knaggs and Richard Larking was reached after the success of a Summer Ball fundraiser at The Pavilions in Harrogate, that so far has raised over £110,000 in addition to more than £43,000 already raised by other activities including a golf day at Alwoodley Golf Club, sponsored entries in the Great North Run and via online fundraising platform GiveWheel.
The event saw 340 guests from across Yorkshire welcomed by the Summer Ball Committee, headed by David’s wife Jackie, which was the culmination of 18 months planning.
“It’s been amazing to put on such a great event for their fundraising and the committee’s hard work over the last 18 months has really paid off. We were blown away be people’s generosity and it was fantastic to see everyone having a fabulous evening,” said Jackie Knaggs.
The rowing duo are now setting their fundraising sights on a new £200,000 target, and have issued a call for more sponsors before they set off to row their seven-metre boat ‘Brizo’ from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Antigua in just five months’ time.
“We were ambitious in our aim to raise as much as we could for the two causes, but we’re keen to make sure that as our training intensifies in the run up to the race start, we don’t let up on securing sponsors and raising more funds for these local charities,” said Richard Larking.
“Whether it is the scale of the challenge, or the fact that we will be 59 and 60 years old when we set off to row 3,000 miles that has caught people’s imaginations, we are keen to welcome more sponsors to get on board with the event before we embark on this journey in December. We would welcome any support from businesses across the region to top the new £200,000 target,” added David Knaggs.
In addition to headline sponsor, independent business rescue and recovery specialist Begbies Traynor, the pair have also secured sponsorship from leading regional and local businesses over the last 12 months, with 11 other corporate supporters including Ginetta; Happy Drains; Optivet Referrals; Cellular Pathology Services; Macintosh James & Partners Wealth Management; El Gato Negro Tapas; Middleton Law; Richard Fahey Racing; Springfield Healthcare; Waterer’s Services Limited; Walker Morris and SBFM Ltd.
Julian Pitts, regional managing partner for Begbies Traynor’s 10 offices across Yorkshire, The Humber and the North East, said: “The event was fantastic and the amount of money raised remarkable, with so much generosity shown by the guests on the night. We’re very proud to be a supporter of the team, and hope that other businesses will join the efforts to keep filling the coffers for two very worthy causes.”
Further opportunities to support the pair in their fundraising can be found on www.greens2blue.co.uk
