Backing the Back Up Trust
Andy Paterson-Jones, New England
For the last five years, BNI Putney has supported the Back Up Trust, a charity that helps those whose lives have been changed forever by spinal cord injury. We’ve raffled, raced dragon boats, collected. This year we’ve gone rather further.
Karen Darke suffered spinal cord injury when she fell rock climbing. Now, she is paralysed from armpit level downwards. With the Back Up Trust’s help and encouragement, since her injury she has sit-skied across Greenland, canoed from Canada to Alaska, climbed El Kapitan in the Yosemite, and hand-cycled through the Himalayas as well as down the length of Japan. In 2011’s world hand cycling championship she achieved two podium places, and she has her sights set on hand cycling Gold at the London Paralympics.
Karen has another target. She aims to sit-ski 1000km across Antartica to the South Pole, and raise £1 million for the Back Up Trust. Putney BNI is committed to helping her. We’re masterminding her fund-raising campaign. Our members involved so far are Tyrell Marketing (strategy), New England (design and art direction), MLR Photography (images) and Perpetual Films (videography). Our work to date can be seen in the promotional video we’ve developed.
We’re committed to do everything we can, professionally, to help Karen and Back Up beat the £million target. It’s good to be using our talents outside of the commercial arena.