Corporate Charity Challenges

CORPORATE CHARITY CHALLENGES

Caring Ma)ers Now is working in partnership with Charity Challenge to offer companies a unique opportunity to improve company success, whilst demonstra=ng great Corporate Social Responsibility.

Whatever your profession, improving the dynamics of your staff will have a big impact on the success of your business.

Caring Ma)ers Now is offering companies a once-­‐in-­‐a-­‐life =me experience for employees through CMN Challenges.

WHAT ARE CMN CHALLENGES? Caring Ma)ers Now Challenges consist of once-­‐in-­‐a-­‐life-­‐=me experiences, such as treks, bike rides, mountain climbs, raMing, dog sledding, skiing and community challenges in over 30 countries worldwide. All challenges are organized through Caring Ma)ers Now and Charity Challenge, who are the world’s leading fundraising challenge company and organise over 100 expedi=ons each year.

WHY ARE CMN CHALLENGES IMPORTANT? Team building is part of a psychological discipline called organisa=onal psychology.

CMN Challenges offers unique team building opportuni=es for corporate companies which results in groups of employees becoming be)er equipped, mo=vated, inspired and determined to achieve within the working environment.

The challenges offered are once-­‐in-­‐a-­‐life=me opportuni=es, which can be used to determine strong points in an individual employee’s personality, such as leadership skills. This can benefit the individual by giving them greater job sa=sfac=on & the opportunity to progress to their full poten=al as their strengths are highlighted. It is proven that the challenges offered to corporate companies are a far be)er way to have efficient and effec=ve workers.

Job sa=sfac=on is an important part of a person's employment. Feeling worthwhile, part of a team & having a sense of achievement within the working environment are essen=al elements to happiness.

These feelings can mo=vate a workforce & ensure they are at their most produc=ve, & in turn, this a^tude will mo=vate their colleagues. Working on the premise that happy staff are produc=ve staff, companies oMen find that team-­‐building challenges posi=vely affect the produc=vity of individuals, teams & the company.

Team building also benefits the team as a whole.

When people who rarely work together are forced to communicate, they can discover that they enjoy the interac=on and con=nue to network and bond with different people back at the work place. Those who previously may not have been ge^ng along will have to forget their differences in order to overcome an obstacle and their dislike is diminished as they work together for a common goal.

10 Reasons for CMN Charity Challenges

1. Improving communica=on 2. Making the workplace more enjoyable 3. Mo=va=ng a team 4. Ge^ng to know each other 5. Ge^ng everyone "onto the same page", including goal se^ng 6. Teaching the team self-­‐regula=on strategies 7. Helping par=cipants to learn more about themselves: strengths & weaknesses 8. Iden=fying and u=lizing the strengths of team members 9. Improving team produc=vity 10. Prac=cing effec=ve collabora=on with team members Team Building encourages the improvement of Interpersonal Skills such as: communica=on, nego=a=on, leadership, and & mo=va=on.

ABOUT CARING MATTERS NOW Caring Ma)ers Now is a charity suppor=ng children and adults with a rare, life-­‐threatening syndrome called Congenital Melanocy=c Naevus. Over the past 4 years Caring Ma)ers Now has worked in conjunc=on with Charity Challenge to raise funds to support the CMN medical research at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Congenital Melanocy=c Naevus is a rare condi=on with very li)le being known about it, resul=ng in sufferers feeling very isolated. Therefore, Caring Ma)ers Now is commi)ed to not only funding the CMN medical research at Great Ormond Street Hospital, but to also suppor=ng sufferers and their families.

Caring Ma)ers Now started the CMN challenge programme to help raise funds for CMN medical research and suppor=ng CMN sufferers, as well as raising the profile of the condi=on.

The first CMN Challenge took place in October 2011, when a team of 19 trekkers climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. The team included business men and woman, including the former CEO of Liverpool Football Club Rick Parry. As a result of the Kilimanjaro challenge success, Caring Ma)ers Now has started offering CMN challenges to corporate companies, which support their Corporate Social Responsibility programme.

As a small charity, Caring Ma)ers Now relies fully on funding raised through sponsored events and direct dona=ons from supporters. Caring Ma)ers Now would not func=on without donated funds. For this reason, Caring Ma)ers Now organises the CMN Challenges in partnership with Charity Challenge.

WHY CHOOSE CMN CHALLENGES? In a rather large nutshell...

Des9na9ons Caring Ma)ers Now currently have challenges in more than 30 countries worldwide in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, the Americas the Arc=c and the antar=c.

Ac9vi9es The types of challenge Caring Ma)ers Now offer are equally varied. You can push yourself to the limits by trekking, mountain climbing, cycling, dog sledding, sky diving, kayaking, white water raMing, skiing or snowshoeing.

Responsible tourism Charity Challenge leads the market in terms of responsible opera=on. They ensure that the local communi=es in the host country benefit directly from our challenges. All of our expedi=ons create employment, contribute to the local economy and inject funds into vital community projects.

Flexibility Caring Ma)ers Now, working in partnership with Charity Challenge, offers ten different types of ac=vity, over 30 countries, three levels of difficulty (challenging, tough and extreme), three payment op=ons, a wide range of challenge dura=ons and more than 120 departure dates per year.

The Charity Challenge Team Charity Challenge is made up of people who have trekked, climbed, biked and built, fundraised, organised and led challenges around the world. Whether its choosing the right challenge before booking, helping you to achieve your fundraising goal, ge^ng you fit before departure, or helping you on the challenge itself, they provide a massive amount of support in order to help you make the most of this incredible experience.

Charity Challenge Experience Over the years, Charity Challenge have represented thousands of individuals, groups, companies and organisa=ons. They have worked with companies including Tesco, Accenture, KPMG, Credit Suisse, Lloyds TSB, HBOS and Saatchi and Saatchi. They have worked on media projects with the BBC, ITV2, GMTV, the Daily Mirror and News of the World. And they have worked with numerous high profile individuals including Gary Barlow, Cheryl Cole, Denise Van Outen, Fearne Co)on, Mar=na Navra=lova, Chris Moyles, Ben Shephard, Ronan Kea=ng and Jack Dee.

Informa9on Caring Ma)ers Now provides extensive informa=on to help you prepare for the challenge including detailed i=nerary, kit list, country fact file, frequently asked ques=ons, health notes and travel =ps, high al=tude notes, fundraising support, fitness training, responsible travel, travel insurance and much more.

Informa9on Caring Ma)ers Now provides extensive informa=on to help you prepare for the challenge including detailed i=nerary, kit list, country fact file, frequently asked ques=ons, health notes and travel =ps, high al=tude notes, fundraising support, fitness training, responsible travel, travel insurance and much more.

Transparency Caring Ma)ers Now are 100% transparent about challenge costs, who pays what and when, how much is funded by the individual and how much by the charity. This is very important especially when fundraising and a propor=on of the funds raised is to be used to fund the challenge. Caring Ma)ers Now are totally clear about what’s included and what is not.

Medical support Your medical details will be screened by Charity Challenge’s chief medical officer who will speak to you about any condi=ons which they feel may cause you an issue on your specific challenge (i.e. at al=tude). On the challenge you will be supported by first aid trained expedi=on leaders and on many challenges a doctor too.

Insurance The specialist comprehensive travel insurance that Charity Challenge offer will cover you for medical emergency, evacua=on and repatria=on, and provide cover for the specific nature of the challenges The insurance exclusively also protects your charity for any contribu=on they may make towards your challenge costs.

Genuine experiences This is not just a physical challenge. You will have the opportunity to experience new cultures -­‐ from the Maasai in Northern Tanzania to the Karen hill tribe in Thailand, and as our group sizes are amongst the smallest in the industry you are likely to experience more genuine interac=ons with local communi=es.

Fundraising Caring Ma)ers Now provides fundraising advice and an A-­‐Z of fundraising ideas, hard copy sponsorship forms, access to many online fundraising websites and a sample press release to help you with the fundraising challenge.

Members area Once team members have booked, they will receive access to their own secure members’ area where they can download all of the relevant challenge informa=on required.

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Tes=monial from Rick Parry, former CEO at Liverpool Football Club CMN Kilimanjaro Trekker

The whole focus of our work at Liverpool FC was to build high performing teams. The most notable example was the team that defied all the odds by winning the UEFA Champions League in Istanbul in 2005. I’ve lost count of the number of people who’ve asked what made it possible.

I’ve been lucky enough to work alongside some of football’s greatest coaches and seen some fantas=c examples of leadership.

Since leaving Liverpool in 2009 I’ve enjoyed talking to diverse groups of people about team building and leadership and about the lessons that can be learnt from professional sport. But I’ve added a new slide to the presenta=on aMer climbing Kilimanjaro in support of Caring Ma)ers Now. Building a great team is not about assembling a group of superstars, it is about crea9ng an environment where ordinary people can do extraordinary things.

It has long been recognised that taking people away from the office and out of their comfort zone is a good first step in team building. Over the years I’ve been on many such exercises. The challenge is in making the change permanent.

There are two big pluses in taking on a CMN Challenge; The first is that raising money for a charity is a concrete objec=ve. This isn’t an abstract exercise. There is a great sense of sa=sfac=on in achieving a goal and in seeing the real impact that it is possible to make on people’s lives. The second is that taking on a challenge like Kilimanjaro is tough. It is a real test of individuals and the team. Ascending a slippery slope in darkness and at -­‐20 degrees with frozen water bo)les is not a simula=on. Some people will probably not reach the top so coping with failure is part of the learning. The lessons learned on a challenge like this will sink in permanently. There is every chance that team behaviours will change permanently as a result.

Our group decided that we wanted to reach the summit together. That was very important to us. The guides and the experts told us it was impossible. They said that on summit night everyone would inevitably move at a different pace and there would be a big gap between the front of the group at the back. But we did reach the top together. And the reason is that from day one the group philosophy, our core value, was always to support the weakest member of the group. Not to be frustrated, not to become impa=ent but to show real support. And the very nature of the challenge was that the weakest member was never the same person two days running. Everyone experienced highs and lows and struggled at different =mes.

I’ve read all the theory about tension and nega=vity leading to energy being consumed far faster than normal. And how nega=ve energy has a corrosive impact on the performance of a team. And how important it is to turn this around and eradicate the nega=ves. Easier said than done.

But in climbing Kilimanjaro I saw a great example of how to put this into prac=ce. An example I will never forget.