Leading UK potato producer staff in mountain race for Action Medical Research
A Shropshire-based team from the UK national potato producer Greenvale AP is entering one of the UK’s most physically demanding outdoor races, the Three Peaks Challenge, in support of leading national medical charity Action Medical Research.
The ‘Greenvale Monarchs’ are five staff from the company’s Tern Hill potato plant near Market Drayton. They will set out on July 11th, in a race to climb the highest peaks in England, Scotland and Wales in the fastest possible time, one after the other. In the past, teams have achieved this feat in barely 17 hours, including time to travel by road between each mountain, with all rest, sleep and meal breaks being fitted in during travel time.
The Greenvale Monarchs’ organiser, Richard Griffith of Shrewsbury, says they expect to raise at least £2,000 in a very good cause, and it’s a valuable team-building exercise too. Also in the team are Jon Rooke, Peter Coburn and Alister Thomson from Shrewsbury, and their colleague Richard Cliff from Stoke on Trent.
There’s one other member of the Greenvale Monarchs – and he’s from Darkest Peru. As one of the rules of the Challenge, each team must carry a Paddington Bear up each mountain.
"We’ve all been working hard to get in peak physical fitness, mainly by training alongside the bear on marmalade sandwiches," says Richard Griffith.
"Many people who have successfully completed Three Peaks in the past have described it as an experience of a lifetime," he adds. "We’ve spoken before about doing the race, and this year it’s a chance to put ourselves to the test and create a true team spirit – as well as to support a charity whose work has touched everyone’s lives in one way or another.
"When we’ve finished, we’ll not only have supported one of the most deserving charities, but we’ll be more of a team at work as well."
The charity’s race will include awards for the fastest teams, the best fundraisers and the team that displays the greatest team spirit.
The Challenge starts at the foot of Ben Nevis in the spectacularly beautiful Scottish Highlands, visiting Scafell in the Lake District, and ending at the foot of Snowdon in Snowdonia National Park, North Wales. It will test their fitness to the limit, ascending and descending the three mountains – Ben Nevis at 1,344m (4,409 ft), Scafell Pike at 978m (3,206 ft) and Snowdon at 1,085m (3,560 ft).
To sponsor the Greenvale Monarchs visit www.action.org.uk/sponsor/greenvaleap.
Notes for editors:
Action Medical Research is a leading children’s research charity. The charity relies on voluntary donations to fund the fight against childhood disease and disability and asks every team taking part in the Three Peaks Challenge to pledge to raise at least £2,000, which goes towards helping Action Medical Research continue its vital work.
Greenvale AP is the UK’s leading supplier of fresh potatoes and was awarded the Queens Award for Innovation in 2006. Greenvale AP now supplies the UK’s premier retailers, caterers and processing outlets with quality potatoes, meeting the high standards demanded by the UK market.
Greenvale AP has developed sites in the major potato growing areas across the UK, resulting in three state of the art potato-packing operations situated near Market Drayton in Shropshire, in Berwickshire and in Cambridgeshire. The company also has sales and marketing offices across the UK, including in Norfolk, Suffolk, Somerset, Hereford and Yorkshire. Greenvale AP’s Seed Potato operation is managed from a specialist office at Burrelton, near Perth in Scotland.
Vales Sovereign, a new potato variety from Greenvale AP, won ‘Variety of the Year’ in the Tesco Fresh Produce Category Awards, held on November 20th 2008 at Royal Lancaster Hotel in London. Announcing the award, Alex Dower, the Category Director for Tesco, commended both the sales performance and Greenvale’s work in escalating the availability of Vales Sovereign.