Having been engaged as Quantity Surveyors on the recently completed and multi award-winning Maggie’s Cancer Centre, Cardiff (designed by Dow Jones Architects), and having learned of the amazing work that the charity undertakes, RPA Group recently decided to adopt Maggie’s as one of the charities that they support.

Having been made aware of the difficulties that the charity were facing with their fundraising efforts during lockdown, RPA decided to step up to the mark and embark on a sponsored Cycle, Run & Walk virtually visiting all 27 Maggie’s Cancer Centres across the UK in just over 2 weeks, covering a total distance of 1,234 miles.

The team set off on their ‘virtual’ journey from Maggie’s Swansea and finished at Inverness in the Scottish Highlands, with a ‘virtual’ stop-off at all the other UK Centres en route. Raising a total sum of £2425, Nick Soady, James Christian and Deborah Bolton from RPA were delighted to present a cheque to Rachael Davies, Centre Fundraising Manager at a recent visit to the Centre.

Managing Director, Nick Soady said;

“In the very early days of lockdown, with all our team working from home across the country, we wanted to find a way of looking after our staff’s well-being whilst also raising money for a fantastic charity. Having learnt of the invaluable work that Maggie’s undertake across the UK during our close involvement in the construction of their new centre at Velindre Hospital, Cardiff, Maggie’s were the obvious choice of charity for us to support.”

Nick added,

“The whole RPA team embraced the challenge of virtually cycling, running and walking between all the iconic Maggie’s Centres across the UK. So much so, that we completed the 1234 miles in just over two weeks. It was an absolute pleasure to recently visit the Centre to present the cheque to Rachael in the same week that Maggie’s Cardiff deservedly won ‘Client of the Year’ at the CEW Awards 2020.”

As with the majority of charities in the UK, the pandemic has meant that Maggie’s have had to adapt quickly to new ways of fundraising following the cancellation of most of their annual events. So they were very grateful of the offer of support when RPA Group suggested the idea of a fundraising opportunity via a virtual event.

Rachael Davies, Centre Fundraising Manager said,

“We don't receive government or NHS funding, we rely solely on the generosity of our supporters to help us keep our centres open and we're so grateful to RPA for fundraising for us and cycling (virtually) to all of our Maggie's centres in the UK. Our income has been drastically affected by the coronavirus pandemic and it has made fundraising so difficult. We really appreciate everything that our supporters have done to help us through this time.”

Rachael added,

“Working with businesses across Wales is so important to us not only for the fundraising side of things but also raising awareness that Maggie's is here to support anyone affected by a cancer diagnosis. We can support businesses with their fundraising ideas and guide them on ways to make activities like the virtual cycling such a success, but we're also here to help businesses support a staff member through cancer.”