Saint Michael's and the Engage Mutual Midnight Walk

We work very closely with Saint Michael's, a local hospice, and are the proud sponsor of the Engage Mutual Midnight Walk.  Our sponsorship enables Saint Michael's to run this flagship event - a quarter marathon sponsored walk around Harrogate...at midnight. 

Estimates for the 2011 Midnight Walk indicate about £90,000 has been raised for the charity through personal and group sponsorship, event sponsorship, registration and the event’s new text donation line. Each year it costs Saint Michael's £3.9 million to maintain its services, supporting those living with terminal illness and bereavement. More than 80 per cent of the costs are funded by the local community and the £90,000 raised by the Engage Mutual Midnight Walk forms a vital part of this.

To find out more about this year's event which took place on Saturday 2 July, visit our Engage Mutual Midnight Walk 2011 page.   

volunteering for Saint Michael's

Working alongside Saint Michael's we have also set up a volunteering scheme for our staff where they can volunteer up to three days a year to undertake any number of tasks including fundraising, reception duties and general office work.

As part of this scheme, 12 staff volunteers recently turned their talents to decorating and helped refurbish the interior of the Saint Michael's furniture shop in Harrogate.  The shops make a significant fund raising contribution towards maintaining the growing range of services provided by Saint Michael's.

Local Heroes with Stray FM

There are many people in different walks of life who dedicate a significant amount of time to helping others, protecting the environment or generally just making a huge difference to someone's life. 

In order to recognise some of these amazing people, we have teamed up with Harrogate's Stray FM Local Heroes campaign.

This year's event took place on Friday 6 May and the Engage Mutual Ultimate Hero award for 2011 went to Louise Hanen who has set up the Acorn Charity and has raised over £700,000 for the Alzheimers' Society in Harrogate and Ripon and research into Scleroderma disease at Leeds General Hospital. 

For more information on Louise and all the other worthy winners take a look at our Local Heroes 2011 page. 

Future Heroes with Stray FM

The second annual Future Heroes Awards took place on Friday 4 November 2011 and we were once again very proud to sponsor this event.

Harrogate's Stray FM Future Heroes campaign searched for the Future Heroes of North Yorkshire - young achievers between 5 and 18 who make a difference and wave the flag for their school.

The six awards were split into two categories: those aged 5 to 11 who were nominated for the Best Friend Award, the Bravery Award and the Eco-Warrior School Award; those aged 12 to 18 who were nominated for the Talent Award, the Sports Star Award and the Community Award. 

The winners, listed below, were invited to Stray FM to join in with the live party in Nick Hancock’s Breakfast Show which took place on Friday 4 November 2011. A Bravery Award was also presented to Rhiannon Gruenwald who, although slightly outside the age range for this category, really impressed the judges.

Future Heroes 2011 winners:

• Best Friend Award: Faye-Louise White

• Bravery Award: Annabel Young and Rhiannon Gruenwald

• Eco-Warrior School Award: Richard Taylor Church of England School

• Talent Award: Jake Abbot
• Sports Star Award: Ellen Brown

• Community Award: Swinton Court Good Neighbour Association Children's Gardening Group