The Skipton Swimarathon chose to recognise the top corporate fundraisers of the 2018 charity event at a special awards ceremony held at Le Murier Village Hall.
The ceremony not only celebrated the efforts of the island’s corporate swimmers, but also that the target for the main beneficiary had been reached allowing the Village Project to reach completion.
The event saw a record number of corporate teams competing for the Corporate Awards, with the committee handing out a Gold Award to Skipton International, a Silver Award to Collas Crill and ten Bronze Awards. These Awards can be displayed by local businesses to celebrate the part they have played in helping local charities, Gold Awards recognising those that have raised £1,500, Silver for £1,000 and Bronze for over £500.
Nick Guillemette, Chairman of the Skipton Swimarathon Committee, said: “To date we have collected just over £53,000 with more to come in, making this our third highest fundraising year since we launched in 1976. I believe we had such an overwhelming response this year because our main beneficiary was such a worthy cause. This is why we decided to host the awards ceremony here so that all those involved can see just what a difference their contributions will make.
“Having the involvement of corporate teams has made such a large difference in raising large sums from the charity event. Having only launched the Corporate Awards last year we have been pleased by how many more firms are looking to participate and we will be looking to further expand upon this next year.”
Le Murier School were presented with a cheque for £30,000 towards the Village Project, which will allow them to complete the building of four wooden log cabins to teach independent living skills to students and the wider community.
Gary Dovey, Ambassador for the Skipton Swimarathon Co-ordinator for the Village Project, said: “We have been overwhelmed by the community’s support for the Village Project and thrilled at the number of people that were involved with the Skipton Swimarathon.
“Thanks to this generous contribution from the Skipton Swimarathon we are now able to push forward with the final phase of the project, getting our independent living village up and running much sooner than we had anticipated and allowing the community to benefit from the facilities we can offer to students, youth groups and other not-for-profit organisations.”
