Businesses offered unique opportunity to flex ‘pedal power’ in 1st Pedalo World Championship

March 14, 2012 - PRLog -- This summer, London will host the biggest sporting event in the world. However, businesses across the UK are now being offered the chance to enter a team and take part in an incredibly exciting new sporting event – the first of its kind in the world. If being a global sponsor for the 2012 Games was a little out of your ballpark, the Muscle Help Foundation (MHF)’s unique summer event may be a more modest alternative, but it ticks all the boxes for competitiveness, value and CSR.

Businesses across the UK are now being offered a unique opportunity to flex their ‘pedal power’ for Muscular Dystrophy (MD) in the 1st ever Pedalo World Championships, endorsed by Olympic rower James Cracknell, at the famous Leander Club on the River Thames.

Hosted by MHF, proceeds from the event will give some 200 young people from around the UK with MD a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness the London Paralympic Games. The lucky beneficiaries will have the chance to meet past, present and future athletes, as part of the charity’s 2012 flagship ‘Games Inspired Muscle Dreams’ programme.  

The 1st Pedalo World Championships is a unique event taking place on Friday 13th July at the prestigious Leander Club in Henley-on-Thames. It offers an outstanding opportunity to businesses seeking a high-end corporate hospitality event with a tangible outcome, providing you with a robust platform to thank key clients or business partners, recognise top talent, or even host a board meeting.  

The charity is looking for 16 corporate teams to ensure the success of what’s hoped will become an annual event in its fundraising calendar. Each team will consist of 4 sporting people to power the pedalo, plus 10 extra places for guests, clients or supporters. Teams will race against each other in a knock-out competition. Cost for participation is £8,500 + VAT per team, comprising £1,250 + VAT for each ‘pedaller’, and £350 + VAT for each guest/supporter.

The day will include a champagne reception, a sumptuous three-course lunch on the terrace overlooking the river and a cocktail reception during the prize giving. The winning team will be presented with the 1st Pedalo World Championships Trophy, individual medals, a DVD film showing their success and a celebratory photograph.

Olympic rower James Cracknell supports this first ever World Pedalo Championships event, saying, “I have experienced amazing highs and the lows that sport and adventure bring. The highs included winning eight Olympic and World Championship gold medals. The lowest point followed an accident in 2010 whilst cycling in the ‘Race Across America’, when I finally understood the impact that the frontal lobes of my brain had taken and the permanent damage inflicted on my brain. I therefore know just how important it is to value the positives in life. The Muscle Help Foundation, and its co-founder Michael McGrath, are helping to inspire their 'Muscle Dream' beneficiaries and the wider family to value those positives - the forthcoming 1st World Pedalo Championships exemplifies all that's most positive whilst reinforcing the charity's STRONGER TOGETHER tagline."

James is urging businesses, organisations and groups of friends to take part in this unique event, adding: “You can play your part by getting a team together to support this fun and most worthy sporting fundraiser. You'll be challenging yourselves, you'll be having fun and most importantly, you'll be changing lives.”

What’s in it for your business?

For businesses looking for ways to reinforce their corporate social responsibility programme, this event offers you the perfect way to achieve this: an occasion when doing something relatively small can achieve something huge, possibly life changing. Taking part in this event can help raise your brand’s profile amongst a totally new audience, as well as motivating staff and ultimately helping change the lives of children and young people who need support on a daily basis.

The Championships will provide a platform for your business to develop deeper relationships with your most valued clients and business contacts, as well as incentivising and rewarding your loyal and hard-working employees.
Make a difference and change lives

The charity’s co-founder and Chief Muscle Warrior, Michael McGrath, said: “There are approximately 75,000 people in the UK suffering from this life-limiting and severely debilitating disease. It is the single biggest genetic killer of children in our world today - FACT. As a sufferer of Muscular Dystrophy myself, I also know that with determination, direction and a little help from people around us, anything is possible. This was never more true than on my expeditions to both the North and South Poles. By entering a team in the 1st World Pedalo Championships, your organisation will be changing the lives of some 200 children and young people from across the UK, helping to fulfil their dreams. I look forward to engaging with you so we can make this happen.”

Deadline for reserving your place is Friday 20th April. Only 16 teams can take part  ... time is of the essence!

For further information, contact Lydia Drukarz at Wavelength PR on: 07977 454180 or lydia@wavelengthpr.com or Jeremy Silverstone at Purple Marketing Communications Ltd on: 01707 852626 or jem@purple-marketing.net

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NOTES TO EDITORS:

About The Muscle Help Foundation, Muscle Dreams and Muscle Warriors

The Muscle Help Foundation was co-founded by Michael McGrath (aka the Chief Muscle Warrior and DreamMaker). The charity provides inspiration and hope as well as a unique understanding and empathy towards both the children who receive Muscle Dreams, as well as the wider family unit who draw strength from the personal involvement of its CEO Michael McGrath, himself a sufferer and now permanent electric wheelchair user.

The charity has a simple vision to fulfil the Muscle Dreams of children and young people in the UK whose lives are afflicted by muscular dystrophy. Through a tailored and highly personalised approach, the charity delivers transformational experiences that give real joy and hope, enabling its beneficiaries to live a dream or fulfil a cherished ambition that a family simply cannot afford.

PLEASE NOTE: the charity works very hard to avoid language such as ‘grant wishes’, which is very much in keeping with the approach of some other well-known charities. The Muscle Help Foundation delivers Muscle Dreams – we would be grateful if editors would ensure that this is communicated in this manner.

Muscular Dystrophy is the single biggest genetic killer of children in our world today. There are some 75,000 UK sufferers being robbed of their mobility, independence and finally, for those with the most severe form, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), their lives.

Muscle Warriors are those generous-hearted people who use for example the power of sport to engage, inspire and raise vital funds – Muscle Warriors run across deserts, they sprint along race tracks, do triathlons and ironman’s as well as events called GRIM; they climb mountains and participate in often extreme endurance activities to enable Muscle Dreams to happen. They reinforce the robust link between muscles, movement and the power of sport.

Information about The Muscle Help Foundation – go to: www.musclehelp.com
Information about Michael McGrath – go to: www.michaelmcgrath.co.uk