Last week 7 members of staff from our European headquarters took on a 20-mile sponsored walk across the Welsh countryside to raise money for Aria. Aria’s family received the devastating news on her 3rd birthday that she had been diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Gliona (DIPG), an aggressive and inoperable type of brain tumour, the treatment for which can be highly expensive. Family friend and Ellison Europe’s Sales Director Amy Dawson took it upon herself to organise this walk to raise money towards Aria’s treatment.
The trail took the group across three mountains in North Wales, providing a challenging elevation but rewarded with spectacular views. Starting from the Ellison Europe Headquarters in Wrexham, the team made their way to the first of their three mountains: Cyrn-y-Brain. From there they tracked on to Moel y Faen, followed by Moel y Gamelin, before ending their trail in the Welsh village of Carrog. The challenging hike took the team 11 hours to complete.
Amy Dawson said:
“We completed the 20 mile walk on Friday 13th August to raise money for a local young girl, Aria, who has had the devastating news that she has an aggressive inoperable brain tumour. Aria is only 3 years old who should have her whole life ahead of her but this will be cut short. This is close to home as Aria is a friends niece so it has been so rewarding being able to help their family in any way we could. The funds we are raising will be used for treatment that Aria has managed to get access too but at a cost of over €1000 per week it is a heavy burden for the family. The goal was to raise enough for one week of treatment and we look to be nearing closer to 2 weeks now which is just fantastic.
Being able to use our new initiative of the CSR day to complete this challenge was great, I was able to involve others in the Ellison team and together we have been able to make a small difference for little Aria.“
This day was supported by the new Ellison People Strategy which was introduced in May this year. The strategy focuses on supporting our employees in all aspects, with a big focus on wellbeing. One of the benefits to be introduced was a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Day, which allows employees to take one paid day off a year to volunteer or engage in other charitable functions. Bethany Tidd, Ellison’s HR Administrator said,
“Corporate social responsibility is all about companies playing their part in society and giving back, and a big part of that is fundraising for worthy causes. At Ellison we launched this initiative for all employees to take part by doing a variety of fundraising events, in order us to give back to the community and is important for employees to have this opportunity to participate. Not only does it make a change to people’s lives it also educates us as a company by raising awareness of various issues.”
When setting up the fundraiser for Aria, Amy has initially set out to raise £1000, but thanks to the support of her 6 fellow walkers and their friends, family, and colleagues, so far they have raised over £1700. The fundraiser is still receiving donations and will be closed on the 3rd of September 2021. If you’d like to support the fundraiser and help Aria, please donate here.
