Below are the charity and promtion events that Gary Parker and Parker & Co have arranged, been involved with or taken part in. They are listed latest date first.
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Our nominated charity to 31st March 2013 is St.Davids Foundation Hospice Care. Gary's company,Parker & Co based in Magor, have chosen St. David's Foundation Hospice Care as their nominated charity for the 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 year by completing some events like the the St.Davids English Channel Relay Swim 2013, 3 Peaks, Hellespont Swim and Everest Marathon, carrying out others such the Newport Transporter Bridge abseil and The Kingsway Abseil and directly sponsoring some events, such as the Annual Ball in November 2011 and 2012.
Join us in the Hilton Hotel, Newport for 'Fun at the Fair' charity dinner to benefit St Davids Foundation charity in respect of fund raising in support of the Channel Relay Swim 2013 that Parker & Co are sponsoring.
'Step right up and join us for a magical evening of fun and festivities to support our brave team of volunteers who will be swimming the English Channel in July 2013'.
The evening event will encapsulate all that's fun and fantastic about the circus and fair, including:
For more information visit: http://stdavidshospicecare.org/event-details/all-the-fun-of-the-fair-party-night/
Pictures of events to follow.
August 2012 The team is set for the English Channel Relay Swim July 2013
Parker & Co are sponsoring a team to swim the English Channel the first week of July 2013 and they intend to raise £25,000 for the St. Davids Foundation charity.www.stdavidsfoundation.com
The team have been swim training since May in outdoor lido's and the sea. The photo below is the final sea team just after a cold night swim at Bathurst outdoor pool. The team are from left to right Hannah Roche, Dawn Lea, Kath Lewis, Kara Williams, Gary Parker and Keith Lesley.
June 2012 Gary and Team manage the Wales 3 Peaks Event on behalf of St. Davids Foundation
The 3 peaks event took place on 30th June and was a tremendous day for both the teams that took part and for fund raising for the charity. The weather was'nt so good but that just made it more of a challenge for the participants. Everyone seemed to enjoy getting to the end!
Gary and his team of climbers and mountaineers arranged all the safety and checkpoints for the event.
May 2012 Parker & Co Sponsor the Annual St. Davids Ball 2012.
Parker & Co are pleased to announce that they they are the sole sponsors of the prestigous St. Davids Ball in November 2012. "We are highly delighted and proud to have been given the opportunity to sponsor the best Ball of the year" said Gary.
May 2012 Everest Marathon Update
Unfortunately, due to business commitments Gary has had to delay his entry in the Everest Marathon. "The trouble is its 3 weekd away for a one day Marathon!, said Gary". He has another event in 2013 which clashes with the EWverest Marathon so he has to wait until 2014 to attemp it.
Gary sets off for the Everest Marathon
On friday 19th May Gary is setting off for Nepal to complete the highest marathon on earth - The Everest Marathon. It starts at around 5,400 metres (17,700 ft) above sea level so Gary has until 29th May to train and acclimatise to be able to run at this altitude. On 29th May 1953 Mt Everest was first summitted by Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing. The Everest Marathon is run every year on the same date to commemorate the success.
December 2011 - Parker & Co Sponsor the Newport Transporter Bridge Abseil - 15th September 2012
Gary Parker and his team of climbers and mountaineers will be providing instructors and equipment for the abseil off the 176ft Newport Transporter Bridge to raise funds for St.Davids. Abseilers will be raising atleast £75 each for the event.
March 2012 - Parker & Co taking the plunge for St.Davids - the English Channel Relay
Gary Parker of South Wales accountancy firm Parker & Co has agreed to sponsor a team of 6 to complete the challenge of swimming across the English Channel, known as the Everest of Swims!
The event was officially launched by David Davies, the Welsh Olympic Medallist open water swimmer. David has already got a bronze and a silver Olympic medal and will be “going for gold” this year. David launched the event at the recent Newport Business Club function where he was the guest speaker.
The event will take place in July 2013 and the objectives will be to complete the Channel and raise £30,000 for St.Davids. “There is plenty of time to train and raise funds” said Gary.
“Basically we are looking for 5 more swimmers who will be committed to training for success and to play their part with the fund raising”
Training for the English Channel will be a challenge in itself. “You need to complete a 2 hour open water swim in 15 degrees water, wet suits are not allowed, be prepared to avoid jelly fish, oil tankers and all kinds of debris”. The distance is 32 kilometres.
“You will need a strong stomach as well as a tad of endurance” Gary said.
Whereas we will be getting out in the open water in summer much of our training will take place in open unheated pools. The Bathurst pool in Lydney is ideal where Gary is a member of the serious swimmers club.
Gary will be taking part in the challenge already being a strong open water swimmer. He completed the 6k Hellespont swim last year and has already completed his 2 hour open water qualifier. “I have a few swim events and challenges lined up en route to this fund raiser including the 12k Straight of Gibralter later this year and I plan to try a solo channel crossing September 2013 after our relay event”.
When asked why the channel Gary said “well St.Davids is our nominated charity so to raise funds for them would be very satisfying. On a personal note I have climbed some mountains, completed the MdS in the desert and the Jungle Marathon in the Amazon, I just wanted to complete an endurance event in the water”.
He later admitted to having swum for his school and once for Wales as a schoolboy.
Parker & Co is sponsoring the event by funding the boat support, registration with the body that will recognise and monitor the swim and some other fees, all told around £3,500.
We hope to select a team before the end of April. Anyone interested in taking part please contact Gary Parker on 01633-889020 or Kris Broome on 01633-270980.
We are also looking for corporate sponsors to fund kit some training sessions and other essentials.
We already have two ladies signed up for the challenge, Ruth Jones and Victoria Hart who are both co-ordinators for St.Davids. They have already got stuck into their training and fund raising. A great start!
Parker & Co’s strapline is “adventure in business” – you can see why!
March 2012 - Success on the Newport Transporter Bridge
Gary and his team helped around 65 people abseil safely off the transporter bridge saturday morning. We started at 7am so that we could all see the Wales v France match in the afternoon. We just managed and missed only about 15 mins of the game. A great day for Wales and a great day for St.Davids fund raising.
Most people enjoyed the abseil - well they had by the time they got to the bottom !
Pic - Jo Pucknell - enjoying it !
December 2011 - Parker & Co Sponsor the Newport Transporter Bridge Abseil - 15th September 2012
Gary Parker and his team of climbers and mountaineers will be providing instructors and equipment for the abseil off the 176ft Newport Transporter Bridge to raise funds for St.Davids. Abseilers will be raising atleast £75 each for the event
December 2011 - Parker & Co Sponsor the Newport Transporter Bridge Abseil - 17th March 2012
Gary Parker and his team of climbers and mountaineers will be providing instructors and equipment for the abseil off the 176ft Newport Transporter Bridge to raise funds for St.Davids. Abseilers will be raising atleast £75 each for the event.
St.Davids Foundation
Our objective is to raise atleast £10,000 over the year and 100% of donations go to the charity. We have a team in the 3 Peaks in July, Gary is swimming the Hellespont in August and running the Everest Marathon in Nepal in December ("The highest Marathon on Earth").
So far so good. As of 1st January 2012 Gary and his team completed the 3 Peaks in excellent time. He has also completed the 6 kilometre Hellespont Swim but due to business commitments, had to delay the Everest Marathon until 29th May 2012. He is really looking forward to completing this high altitude challenge!!
November 2011 - Update on the Everest Marathon
Unfortunately due to business commitments Gary has had to delay his taking part in the Everest Marathon. The next marathon takes place from Everest base camp on 29th May 2012.
Gary has got his entry !!!
September 2011 - Hellespont Update
On 30th August in the Dardenelles Gary took part in the 6.2 k Hellespont Swim. It was a great occasion with around 500 competitors.
At about 10 mins into the swim I settled into my stroke - but slowed up whilst avoiding the hundreds of Jellyfish in the water! The cut off time was 1 hour 30 mins and I managed to complete it in 1 hour 3 mins which was about half way in the field. Gonna go back next year and shave 10 mins off that!
Anyway was a success on my way to raising the £10,000 for St.Davids foundation. Next - The Everest Marathon!
The Everest Marathon
Gary will be running the 26 mile Everest Marathon in December. Known as the highest marathon on earth it will be a real challenge particularly with the altitude to cope with. He is not expecting to win the event but has an excellent chance of completing it bearing in mind his endurance events background having completed the Marathon De Sable and the Jungle Marathon. He is also a mountaineer and runs a mountain expedition company www.club7summits.com
Hellespont Swim
At the end of August, Gary is also taking part in the Hellespont Open Water Swim - From Asia to Europe.
Situated in Turkey, The Hellespont is undoubtedly one of the most significant open water swims in the world. In 1810, Lord Byron the English Poet became the first known person to swim across the Hellespont from Europe to Asia. He swam it in honour of Leander, who in Greek Mythology, would swim nightly across this stretch of water to his lover Hero.
My reason for doing it is less romantic, but much more significant - I want to raise money to support the work of St. David's Foundation.
Have a look at the video of Gary training at Bathurst Outdoor Pool, Lydney where he is a member of the Serious Swim Club. It is a lovely outdoor pool and great for families.www.bathurstpool.co.uk
Our support will help them to provide individual care to many thousands of patients and their families living with South Wales. Your kind donations will ensure that St David's Foundation will continue to tailor care that allows patients the dignity they deserve when facing the most difficult time of their lives. So Dig Deep whilst I Swim in the Deep!
July 2011 - Welsh 3 Peaks Challenge
Gary Parker, Liz Francis and Tim attridge took completed the 3 Peaks on 2nd July. It was a beautiful sunny day and we were lucky enough to be first to complete all 3 peaks.
They hope to raise over £1,500 for the charity.
The challenge involved climbing Snowdon and Cader Idris in Snowdonia and Pen-y-fan in the Brecon Beacons. The entrants have approx 12 hours (mountain time) but we managed 6 hours 27 mins.
July 2nd 2011 - Gary, Liz and tim complete the welsh 3 Peaks
After a 4am start Gary and Liz set off up Snowdon by the Lanberis path, followed later by Cadair Idris and finally Pen-Y-Fan. The total "mountain time" was 6 hours 7 minutes and they were lucky enough to be first to complete the event. Vist St.Davids blog http://www.stdavidsfoundation-blog.com/
We hope to raise around £1,500 for this event.
Visit Gary's Just Giving webpage http://www.justgiving.com/adventureinbusiness and make a donation to St.Davids Foundation.
June 2011 - Gary Parker agrees to swim from Europe to Asia for St.Davids Foundation - the Hellespont Swim August 2011
Gary will be swimming the 4.5 kilometres from the Gallipoli peninsula on the european continent to Canakkale near Troy in Turkey on the continent of Asia. It is known as the Hellespont is arguably the most iconic swim in the world. It is geographically, historically & culturally significant, whether it is swimming between continents or following in the tradition of Leander and Byron.
Historically the crossroads from Asia to Europe, it has been a natural barrier for invading armies. Both King Xeres I of Persia in 480BC and Alexander the Great a century and a half later crossed the strait on a bridge of boats and throughout history the Hellespont was the first line of defence for Constantinople.
Hero, a priestess of Aphrodite, lived on the European side of the Hellespont in a high tower by the sea. Leander, a young man from the Asian side, swam every night guided by the lamp which his mistress lit at the top of the tower, in order to spend the night with his beloved Hero; and before dawn, he returned to his city by the same means.
The poet, Lord Byron amazed at Leander's nightly conjugal powers swam the Hellespont on his second attempt in 1810. He became the first since Leander to achieve this feat.
Gary certainly won't be the the 3rd person to achieve the swim, it is now an annual event on "Victory Day" where one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world is closed for the Hellespont race.
Gary hopes to raise atleast £2,500 for the St.Davids foundation charity.
Training for Hellespont :-
May 2011 - Parker & Co enter a team in the St Davids 3 Peaks - June 2011
Gary Parker is putting a team together to complete the Welsh Peaks event on 2nd July. The team will include Gary, Liz Francis and Tim Attridge. They hope to raise over £1,000 for the charity.
The event includes climbs of Snowdon and Cader Idris in Snowdonia and Pen-y-fan in the Brecon Beacons. The entrants have approx 12 hours to complete all three mountains but Gary hopes his team will be somewhat quicker than that!
April 2011 - Parker & Co have chosen St Davids Foundation as its nominated charity for 2011.
We are supporting by way of taking part in events, supporting the charity generally and sponsoring some events. We are sponsoring the Annual Ball in November 2011.
Visit Gary's Just Giving page http://www.justgiving.com/adventureinbusiness
March 2011 - Parker & Co sponsor the Annual Newport Clocktower Abseil for the Lord Mayor's Charity and Gary Parker keeps it safe
Each year the Lord Mayor allows the 120ft Clocktower on the Newport Civic Centre to be used as a charity event raising money for for his chosen charity which this year is Tenovus.
Gary Parker being an experienced mountaineer gives up his day to handle the safety and ropework on the day. Parker & Co sponsor the event and meet the costs of equipment and safety staff on the day. This year there were around 40 abseiler participants raising around £4,000 for Tenovus.
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