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Olleco takes fundraising to new heights

Robert in training for the Dolomites Swiss Alps 2016 Haute Route
Robert in training for the Dolomites Swiss Alps 2016 Haute Route

Last month Olleco chief executive Robert Behan took on the ‘hardest cyclist event in the world’ when he and seven friends cycled from Geneva to Venice covering 900 kilometres and heights of 21,000 meters over seven days.

Looking to raise £100,000 for Ronald McDonald House Charities UK and Ronald McDonald House Charities Ireland, Robert and the team have raised over £158,000, helped by  Robert’s company – the renewable division of the ABP Food Group – committing to match the first £50,000 raised on a pound-for-pound basis.

Olleco, whose biodiesel plant in Liverpool produces 16 million litres of biodiesel per annum from used cooking oil, has had a long partnership with McDonald’s – with Ronald McDonald’s House Charities being its charity of choice for many years – through providing 100% resource recovery for the restaurant business.

“The two charities I have chosen help give families hope and respite during some of the hardest moments of their lives,” explained Robert.

“By giving them a place to stay where they can maintain a degree of normal life while their child is undergoing medical treatment in a nearby hospital is a life-line, particularly for those who live a distance away.”

Robert’s endurance challenge has been borne out of personal tragedy after he lost his dearly beloved wife earlier this year. Already a seasoned competitive cyclist over the past four years, he has found solace through the encouragement and support of his team mates as together they have taken on one-day endurance events averaging 175km and 4,500 of climbing.

“We’re privileged to have in our wider family such wonderful partners who go that extra mile to help us,” said Jon Haward, executive director, Ronald McDonald House Charities.

“We thank Robert and his team most sincerely for putting this extreme challenge above his own personal loss to help others in difficult times.”

Donations can be made at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Iamhavingabadweek.

www.olleco.co.uk
www.hauteroute.org/events/stageds/dolomites-swiss-alps-2016