NA Curtain Walling

In October, N A Curtain Walling (NACWL) decided to arrange a charity gig in addition to taking on the Great South Run, in support of Rowans Hospice Charity. We met with Robbie, NACWL’s Executive Director, and his fantastic team to find out why they wanted to support the Charity and how the events went.

Robbie has a red coat background and has always had his hand in the entertainment industry therefore when the opportunity to organise a charity gig came up, he jumped at the chance to both support local singers and use it as a fundraising activity.

Robbie told us that “Rowans Hospice is a very special charity to NACWL, they looked after two amazing ladies in their last days on earth battling cancer, and we will be forever grateful for the care Rosemary Vears (Executive Director’s (Nolan) Mother) and Louise Bradley (colleague) received.”

Robbie’s mum has also been a volunteer for Rowans Hospice Charity for many years so they have been long-term supporters of the Charity and believe that the “Rowans Hospice Charity are an amazing charity, who do great work and we understand that they rely largely on donations for funding.”

The gig was a tremendous success and thoroughly enjoyed by all. During the gig they held a raffle, which is where the majority of the money for the event was raised. Rowans Hospice Charity and NACWL would like to thank the following local businesses for donating raffle prizes:

• Bottomless brunch at Monty’s Restaurant & Wine Bar in Portsmouth
• Dinner at the Queens Hotel in Portsmouth
• 2 x corporate tickets for Portsmouth Football Club match to include food & drink
• Personalized caricature by Nigel Matthews
• 2 signed Portsmouth football shirts from Portsmouth Football club
• Handmade Harry Potter scarf by Chantelle Rae Puttnum

Following this fantastic event, the team decided to sign up to the Great South Run to further support us. Robbie told us that “the whole team at NACWL love a challenge and keeping fit. Every year we set a fitness challenge to raise money for charity, and help promote staff wellbeing. This keeps employees motivated and working towards a shared goal. A lot of employees have found that setting these challenges refuels their passion for fitness.” The Great South Run encouraged NACWL’s regular runners to become a little more competitive; “A lot of the team were already runners, so it was great to see some of them push themselves and add to the challenge by wearing a costume to complete the GSR.”  Huge congratulations to the team!

Robbie’s favourite part was dressing as Chewbacca for the Great South Run even though he had a blister on the end of his nose due to the heavy mask rubbing against his face the whole way through – officially known as the ‘Chewbacca burn’  by the NACWL team!  Robbie even had to ask another runner to use some of their Vaseline on the way round the course, to help soothe his nose and stop the mask rubbing.  That really is dedication to fundraising!

We asked Robbie how the team found embracing these challenges and he replied “It is great to do it as a team as it really raises the morale across the company – it brings everyone together We also fit more in the schedule as ‘a team’ when completing these fundraising activities. We completed the GSR run together that morning before some staff had to head straight to the airport for a business trip in the evening.”

Robbie shared his top tips for other companies who are arranging their fundraising events;

• Make the fundraising activities fun and competitive! To do this you will need to consider everyone’s abilities.
• Get families of employees involved too, this way if the employee does not want to participate directly, they can still get involved through their family. NACWL had some of their employee’s children run the GSR child race on the Saturday, so these staff were able to help raise money this way.
• It helps all levels of the organisation mix together. The manager becomes the focus of a bit of a ridicule and made to do ridiculous things such as wear a Chewbacca costume, and therefore communication opens up across the team.

N A Curtain Walling set a new fundraising goal every year and are currently considering doing the Alpine Run for charity next year. In the meantime, they have pledged bring their total donation to Rowans Hospice Charity up to £6000 and are already on their way to achieving this after holding a Christmas bake sale and raising a further £300.11!

If you would like to donate to the N A Curtain Walling JustGiving page please click here.

We hope that this fantastic fundraiser has inspired you. If you would to contact us about your own fundraising event just click here. We can’t wait to hear from you.