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Where there’s hope…
» » GM FUNDRAISING HAS BEEN
raising money for children’s charities with
the support of the fenestration industry for
over 22 years. Made up of a team of like-
minded individuals, they organise events
such as gala dinners, golf events and
football tournaments, but what’s really put
them on the map are their long-distance
cycling challenges. GM Fundraising has
launched the 7th and final ride, ‘From
Russia With Hope’, which will be taking
place in June 2019. Leading door security
and hardware supplier, Brisant Secure is
the headline sponsor and The Locksmith
Journal talks exclusively to Nick Dutton,
Brisant’s CEO and GM Fundraising’s
founder Gary Morton about the challenge
and their nominated charity, Hope House
Children’s Hospice.
GM FUNDRAISING HAS BEEN
AROUND FOR A LONG TIME AND
RAISED AN IMPRESSIVE AMOUNT OF
MONEY, BUT HOW DID IT ALL START?
GM: “In 1995 a colleague of mine was
looking to raise some money for Zoe’s
Place, a babies hospice based in Liverpool,
and we decided to organise a Gala Dinner.
This first event raised £16,755. It was
great fun and raising awareness of such a
worthwhile cause at the same time really
struck a chord with me. To this day, we
still host a Gala Dinner every 18 months
or so and they just seem to get better and
better. Circus Beserkus, which took place
in June, was the 20th one and it raised a
phenomenal £66,814.76. Over the years,
we’ve added other more challenging
activities to the mix, including a five-side
football tournament, prestigious golf
events and long-distance cycle rides, the
next and last being ‘From Russia With
Hope’.” #FRWHope
TELL US MORE ABOUT ‘FROM
RUSSIA WITH HOPE’?
GM: “Taking place in June 2019, ‘From
Russia With Hope’, sponsored by Brisant
Secure, will see a cycling team ride through
10 countries in 12 days, ending up at Hope
House Children’s Hospice, near Oswestry,
the very people we are fundraising for.
The total tally is 2,730 miles with 34,000
ft of climbing. The team will be covering
Fundraising ladies only challenge and
combined two disciples – canoeing and
cycling. The girls smashed it! Not only did
they double their original target, but also
opened our eyes to the future of the GM
Fundraising challenges. So, while this last
traditional ‘cycling challenge’ as we know
it, we intend to go out on a high. However,
we are by no means over when it comes
to setting epic challenges and raising
significant funds for Hope House.”
in excess of 280 miles each day as they
cycle from St Petersburg, Russia, through
Finland, into the Arctic Circle, through
Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Holland,
Belgium, France, England and Wales,
before returning into England and their
final destination of Hope House.”
NICK, WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO
SUPPORT FROM RUSSIA WITH HOPE?
ND: “To our mind GM Fundraising is
very much the ‘industry’s charity’ and we
have long supported their efforts to raise
money to support those less fortunate
than ourselves. For this reason, earlier
this year we donated £5,000 to celebrate
the success of our 5,000-hour salt water
testing on our Sold Secure accredited
Lock Lock handle, which is part of our
new Sweet door furniture range. This in
turn lead to a conversation with the team
about the opportunity to support ‘From
Russia With Hope’. We jumped at the
chance to support such an epic challenge,
particularly as it is the last one. We are
looking forward to promoting this event
together and helping the team achieve
their fundraising targets.”
WHY IS THIS THE LAST RIDE?
GM: “As you can imagine an immense
amount of work goes in to organising
these rides. ‘From Russia With Hope’ is
the 7th and final major cycling challenge
for good reason: Aside from the immense
amount of work in planning and executing
these rides, each time we must exceed
the last, both in challenge and funds
raised. That is no easy task. We’ve
started planning this ride before the last
one (Border2Border in 2016) had even
started. But what we didn’t plan for was
‘Paddle2Pedal’. This was the first ever GM
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TELL US MORE ABOUT THE
OTHER CHALLENGES?
GM: “Top2Bottom was the first in 2005:
A team of 10, including current riders
Alan Sadler, Alan Rothwell, Graeme
Bailey, Gary Torr and myself, cycled 974
miles from John O’Groats to Land’s End
over 13 days and raised over £51,000.
‘From Russia With Hope’ far exceeds this
challenge and it’s amazing to think how
far they have come.”
SUMMARY OF RIDES TO DATE:
• 2005: Top2Bottom - John O’Groats to
Lands End – 974 miles - £51,000
• 2006: Tower2Tower - Eifel Tower
to Blackpool Tower – 473 miles -
£34,000
• 2008: Ride4Hope – Sand Diego to
Atlantic City – 3,182 miles - £91,000
• 2010: Rome2Home – Rome to Hope
House – 1,590 miles – £51,000
• 2013: Hope66 – Chicago to Santa
Monica – 2,660 miles - £134,000
• 2016: Border2Border – Vancouver
to Mexican Border – 2,172 miles -
£186,000
Totals: 11,051 miles; £547,000
HOW MUCH ARE YOU
LOOKING TO RAISE?
GM: “The target for this ride is £125,000,
contributing to our overall drive to raise
£2m by 2020. The individuals in the
team are responsible for meeting (and
hopefully) exceeding their funding targets
and they cover all their own costs for the
trip and training etc... This means that
every penny they raise goes directly to the
children and families at Hope House.
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