Crane crew’s big lift for Daisy Appeal

Workers at a Hull-based powered access and lifting company are aiming high to raise funds for the Daisy Appeal by completing the Three Peaks Challenge.

The team from Hird Ltd aim to reach the summits of Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough next summer after being forced to postpone a plshowinganned attempt earlier this year.

They plan to top-up a donation made to the Daisy Appeal as the result of a payroll giving scheme which has enabled workers to support charities while they were prevented from organising other events by Covid-19 restrictions.

Richard Christiansen, health and safety officer at Hird Ltd, said: “We did a charity Three Peaks Challenge in 2018 and in 2019 three of us did the Lyke Wake Walk and raised more than £1,800 for the Daisy Appeal.

“We were going to do the Three Peaks again in 2020 but obviously because of the restrictions it didn’t happen, so our target now is to complete it during 2021 and meanwhile we’ll continue the payroll giving.”

Hird Ltd, which was founded in Hull in 1983 and specialises in a range of power access and heavy lifting services, has more than 80 staff at its four sites across the UK, each of which raises funds for charities in its own area. The workforce of around 30 at the Hull depot in English Street supported five local charities, with the Daisy Appeal receiving £300 as its share of the proceeds.

Richard said: “We also supported Life for a Kid, Viking FM’s Cash for Kids, Hull Food Bank and Hull 4 Heroes and we were keen to support the Daisy Appeal again because a lot of our colleagues have connections with cancer, whether personally or through family and friends.”

Claire Levy, fundraiser for the Daisy Appeal, said: “We’re so grateful to the guys at Hird Ltd for coming up with a different way to support our work once they found the were unable to complete the Three Peaks Challenge. We hope their efforts will inspire other businesses  to embark on new fundraising ideas because we can’t afford to let Covid stop people from raising money for charities which are more in need now than ever.

“The Hird team came up with a very generous donation from the Lyke Wake Walk in 2019. We really hope they will be able to do even better in 2021, and that people support their fantastic commitment.”

The Daisy Appeal has a target of £8.2m to complete a radiochemistry and cyclotron unit which will produce radioactive tracers at Castle Hill Hospital to improve accuracy and detection rates for cancer, heart disease and dementia in Hull, East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire.

The new facility will provide the opportunity for patients to receive more personalised care leading to earlier diagnosis and giving them better treatment and quality of life.

Once the facility is fully functional patients from a wider geographical area will have access to its services. The charity aims to play a leading role in clinically relevant PET-CT research over the next two decades and to show that the technology can be brought to the individual patient, quickly and effectively.

Anyone with an idea for a Covid-safe fundraising event is asked to email Claire at claire@daisyappeal.org.

To find out more about the Daisy Appeal visit www.daisyappeal.org.