Deloitte has record-breaking success in first year as official corporate sponsor of Royal Parks Foundation running events

On Sunday 12 October, 234 Deloitte employees took part in the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon, with a further eight taking on the challenge of the ‘Ultra’ event.  As well as the significant personal achievement, these popular annual races provided the opportunity for runners to fundraise for the firm’s three charity partners, Mind, Prostate Cancer UK and Alzheimer’s Society. To date, they have raised more than £186,100 and the total continues to increase.

The events marked Deloitte’s first year sponsoring the corporate categories of the half marathon (13.1 miles) and Ultra marathon (50 kilometres). This year, corporate places on the half marathon sold out for the first time in the event’s history, and resulted in a record number of corporate runners taking part from over 160 companies.

Amongst Deloitte’s runners were some particularly impressive individual and team performances. Jane Evans, an employee relations manager, was the second fastest woman, crossing the finish line at 1 hour and 18 minutes; Ben Toomer, a corporate finance associate, was the fifth fastest male, finishing in 1 hour and 13 minutes; and Mark Kennedy, a partner in tax, was the winner of the corporate Ultra runners, finishing in 4 hours 45 minutes. The Deloitte Elite Team also came top of the table for mixed corporate teams in the half marathon, with the seven runners managing to make it round the course in 8 hours and 39 minutes collectively.

David Barnes, the managing partner for public policy and corporate responsibility at Deloitte, who also ran the half marathon, said: “It was a great event. The Deloitte runners put in an outstanding performance, both in terms of their running and fundraising achievements. It is reflective of the high-performance culture we see in the office and our commitment to a fair and sustainable society. We were delighted to be joined by so many other organisations, many of whom were clients."

Sara Lom, Chief Executive of the Royal Parks Foundation commented: ”This first year of Deloitte’s partnership has already proved a massive success. We are delighted that the Deloitte Corporate 13.1 Half Marathon sold out well ahead of the race this year and congratulate the Deloitte team on their fabulous fundraising to date. The Royal Parks Foundation is looking forward to continued success in 2015 and 2016.”

The 2014 Deloitte Corporate 13.1 and Deloitte Corporate 50 both took place on 12 October 2014, in central London. The Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon started and finished in Hyde Park, taking in many of the city's greatest landmarks, including Buckingham Palace, London Eye, Houses of Parliament and the Royal Albert Hall, and four Royal Parks - Hyde Park, The Green Park, St James’s Park and Kensington Gardens.

The 50 kilometre Ultra route started in Hyde Park and finished in Bushy Park, near Hampton Court. Deloitte has entered into a three year relationship with the Royal Parks Foundation, to continue to support the annual running events.

Ends

Notes to editors

Case study – Deloitte team fundraisers
“Team PGMA” were a force to be reckoned with on Deloitte’s fundraising league table in the lead up to the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon. The team, made up of Deloitte employees, Richard Parsons, Byron Griffin, Donna Magick and Hayley Aguda, managed to raise more the £4,690 through a variety of creative and persuasive methods.

The team held a quiz night for their department and charged for entry, which drew a large crowd and was a great success. As part of the event, the team also conducted an auction, the top item being the opportunity for the four of them to go to someone’s house to cook, which alone raised £500. The resourceful team also managed to gather some great additional items to auction off, including restaurant vouchers, a framed shirt signed by Chris Hoy, a selection of wines and paintballing vouchers.

Determined to keep up momentum, the team didn’t stop there. Every Friday, for eight weeks, they held a bake sale, and were also sure to keep family, friends, contacts and clients continually reminded of their fundraising efforts.

For most of the team, the reason for taking part in the event was to overcome a huge personal sporting challenge. For Donna Magick, the fundraising brought added reward as she was able to raise money for Alzheimer’s Society, a charity close to her heart as her grandmother suffers from the disease.

Deloitte national charity partnership programme
Deloitte runs a three-year national charity partnership programme. The three charities it is currently working with were selected by Deloitte employees, based on the impact it could have over the course of the partnership. Deloitte provides the charities with support in terms of both fundraising and pro bono work through the time and expertise of its people.

Mind, Prostate Cancer UK and Alzheimer’s Society have been part of the programme since June 2013 and details of their success to date can be found in the Deloitte 2014 Impact Report.

About Deloitte
In this press release references to Deloitte are references to Deloitte LLP, which is among the country's leading professional services firms.

Deloitte LLP is the United Kingdom member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (“DTTL”), a UK private company limited by guarantee, whose member firms are legally separate and independent entities. Please see www.deloitte.co.uk/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of DTTL and its member firms.

The information contained in this press release is correct at the time of going to press.

Member of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited

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About the Royal Parks Foundation
The Royal Parks Foundation is the charity that helps support the magic of London's eight amazing Royal Parks. Established in 2003, the charity reaches out to make the Parks part of more people’s lives and raises funds for a wide variety of heritage, education, wellbeing and nature conservation programmes. The registered charity number is 1097545, for more information, please visit www.SupportTheRoyalParks.org or visit The Royal Parks at www.royalparks.org.uk.

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