85 Mile Tow-Path Bike Ride Raises £680 For New Pre-school In Ghana


Saddle-sore Seth Cornwall raises £680 for Teneo’s Ghana pre-school appeal after cycling 85 miles along the Kennet and Avon cycle route from Bath to Reading in 7 hours and 40 minutes.

Seth Cornwall who works as an EMEA Channel Manager for IT Infrastructure Optimisation Specialist Teneo, based at Theale Lakes near Reading, has raised £680 towards the building of a new pre-school in Ghana. He set himself the challenge of cycling 85 miles from Bath to Reading along the picturesque Kennet and Avon canal cycle route, which is a mix of towpath and local roads. On a hot day in July, Seth started out at 9.30am in Bath and arrived in Reading some 7 hours and 40 minutes later, taking 2 hours off his predicted time.

The challenge was in aid of Teneo’s appeal to raise funds for the construction of a new pre-school for the town of Motigu in Ghana, working with children’s charity Plan UK. Teneo is providing 90% of the funding with its fifty employees set themselves a challenge of raising the remaining 10% by the end of the year.

The new pre-school will accommodate 166 pre-school pupils aged between 3-6 years old and it will replace an existing derelict building. The new building will include three fully equipped large classrooms complete with a rainwater harvesting system to provide potable water together with a block housing four toilets. The land has been donated and the local community is helping with construction of the pre-school, with the project on target for completion in April 2012.

Plan is a registered charity which works in 48 countries globally to help children in the world’s poorest countries to help them build a better future, and has worked in Ghana since 1992, with programmes benefiting 28,379 children in 300 communities across the country.

Teneo employees chose to embark on this ambitious project after staff achieved sales targets and were awarded with a company-wide trip to Kenya. There they saw the differences between the lives of children in Kenya and in the UK. In addition to Seth’s challenge, three other Teneo employees will be embarking on their own challenges in the next month or so, including triathlons and half-marathons.

Seth Cornwall, EMEA Channel Manager, Teneo, commented:
“I’d like to thank everyone who helped me raise such a large sum for our school project in Ghana. The pre-training was tough but it helped prepare me for the narrow tracks and steep hills away from the canal towpath. I managed to avoid angry bulls and annoyed many dog walkers, but I was very pleased with how quickly I completed the challenge. I’m getting married in September, so my fiancée is pleased too as I’ve never looked more in shape – I can fit into a really nice suit now! “

Piers Carey, Chief Executive Officer, Teneo, commented:
“Seth has made a great contribution to our Ghana appeal and thanks to everyone who supported him. His efforts have really spurred his colleagues working in the business to rise to the challenge and raise funds to reach the target. And it looks like the cycle ride was well timed to get him in trim for his wedding day. One of our next brave volunteers is Jonathan Campbell who is competing in the Tatton Park Triathlon in September, and his fundraising is also well under way.”

To see the various fundraising activities organised by Teneo staff and to donate to the Motigu appeal, visit www.justgiving.com/teams/Teneo
About Teneo Ltd

Teneo is an Infrastructure Optimisation specialist with worldwide reach, focused on helping businesses to meet corporate and IT objectives through accelerating the performance of global network infrastructures, improving user productivity, automating management within the Data Centre, lowering overall IT costs and minimising risk, whether the environment is physical, virtual or in the cloud.

With over 1500 customers on an international scale, Teneo understands the challenges of supplying, deploying and managing technology over widely distributed locations and offers a range of innovative solutions and services to help businesses not only achieve this but also realise the full cost saving potential of their technology investments. Visit uk.teneo.net for more information.

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