~ Family friend inspires company to
raise money for two year old’s
life-changing surgery ~
~Company pledges to match the total
raised in Wokingham half marathon run~
14 February 2011, Wokingham, UK - A team from
IT training organisation, Global Knowledge, have run the Wokingham
half marathon to raise money for a two year old little
girl suffering from quadriplegia cerebral palsy. The team
ran after family friend, Glyn Roberts, UK operations director at
Global Knowledge highlighted the need to help raise £50,000 towards
allowing Evie Herbert to travel to America for surgery which will
vastly improve her quality of life. In a bid to meet the target and
fund Evie’s treatment, Global Knowledge has promised to match
whatever the team raises.
Evie’s condition is such that she has very limited movement and
struggles to walk. The surgery she needs - Selective Dorsal
Rhizotomy (SDR) - is only available at the St Louis Hospital
in Missouri and involves severing some of the sensory nerve fibres
that come from the muscles and enter the spinal cord. “The
operation is most effective when the child is two-four years
old,” explained Glyn. “Evie turns three this month and with £15,000
still to find, it’s a rush against time so we were really grateful
when Global Knowledge pledged to match the total”
The 9 man team at Global Knowledge, none of whom have run a
half-marathon before, took up the challenge after hearing of Evie’s
plight through Glyn. “It was very much a collective decision to run
the marathon and do it for Evie” he explained, “I’ve known Evie
since she was born but since working at Global Knowledge, the
company has become very involved with her journey. Despite all our
varying degrees of fitness they didn’t take much persuading to take
part. So far we’ve raised around £3000 from the run which gets us
closer to our total. We’re so glad we did it and really encourage
people to keep donating.”
“Evie’s story immediately grabs anyone who hears it. Matching
the amount was a very easy decision to make and a great way for us
to show our support for the team” explained Richard Pryor-Jones,
EMEA President of Global Knowledge. “We’re encouraging everyone to
do the same so we’ve had buckets in all our training centres for
people to donate - every penny can make the
difference.”
“We are so grateful for everything Global Knowledge and the team
have done. We are overwhelmed by the level of support we have
received and so much closer to achieving Evie’s goal... thank you
so much” said Stephanie Herbert, Evie’s mum.
To donate to Evie, please visit http://www.runningforevie.co.uk/run/Welcome.html
Evie and the Global Knowledge running team, (L-R): Mario
Cristinziano, Steve Cutting, Sarah Penny, Glyn Roberts (front), Roy
Matthews (back), Scott Vessey, David Ryder, Tony King (front), Rob
Dawson (back), and Beth McCloy.
Contact
Katie Franklin, UK Marketing Manager
Global Knowledge
Telephone: 0118 9 123456
Email: Katie.Franklin@globalknowledge.co.uk