APEM help the Seashell Trust

The water quality testing kit maintains a safe and happy environment for all

APEM recently made a generous and helpful donation to the Seashell trust by purchasing a water testing kit for their two swimming pools. The testing kit costs £600 which would be a significant expense for a charity.

The portable testing kit allows pool staff at the Seashell Trust to quickly and conveniently monitor the water quality of their swimming and hydrotherapy pools. Ultimately, the equipment makes the whole learning environment safer for the children by ensuring chlorine and pH levels meet safety guidelines. The Trust’s staff can use the portable test kit at the pool side quickly and reliably without having to enter the pools pumping room.

Cash for Kids

In the run up to Christmas, APEM's Dr Lindsey Defew encouraged staff in the Edinburgh Office to help support the charity, 'Cash for Kids' after hearing an appeal on her local Radio Station. The Cash for Kids Christmas appeal aimed to ensure all local children living in extreme poverty received a present at Christmas.

Lindsey and the staff at the Edinburgh Office managed to raise £36 altogether and APEM matched this to give a total of £72. Lindsey was then able to buy a good selection of Christmas presents for children in the local area.

Kirsten Wright - Swimathon 

Well done to APEM’s Kirsten Wright, based in our Oxford office, for swimming the English Channel! Well actually she didn’t, but she did swim the equivalent of the English Channel (22 miles). Over a twelve week period, Kirsten swam an average of two miles per week at her local pool. To raise money for the charity Aspire, who help people with spinal cord injuries.

Kirsten aimed to swim two miles per week, and was almost on track by completing fourteen miles in the first eight week. However, she then fell behind leaving herself eight miles to complete in the final two weeks.

Chris Cesar – Movember (Moustache Season)    

APEM’s Chris Cesar, Marine Ecologist, has raised more than £60 as part of Movember (November). APEM matched Chris’s total bringing his total to £120 for this worthy cause. Movember is a charity created to raise awareness and fund research into prostate and testicular cancer.

Donna Ridland 5K Big Fun Run

APEM’s Donna Ridland, who is a Marine Invertebrate Taxonomist, based in the Edinburgh office recently took part in the Edinburgh 5k Big Fun Run.

Sponsored and supported by her colleagues Donna raised £50 on behalf of the SSPCA (Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). APEM matched her donation bringing the final total to £100. The money raised is used to help lonely, abused and injured animals across Scotland. To find out more about the SSPCA please visit www.scottishspca.org.

Children In Need Fundraising

On November 18^th APEM took part in some fundraising for the launch of the 2011 ‘Children in Need Appeal’ to raise money for projects in the UK which focus on children and young people who are disadvantaged. In keeping with this year’s slogan “show your spots, let’s raise lots” members of staff came into work wearing spots and donated money to the worthy cause. ‘Spotty’ cakes were also brought in by some members of staff to raise a few more pennies. When all donations were counted there was £92 in total raised on the day. With APEM’s contribution aswell that makes the grand total raised £184. Not bad for a day’s work! Well done to everyone who took part and thank you for all your donations. For more information on the Children In Need cause or to make a donation please visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/pudsey/

APEM Wear It Pink Day

On Friday 28^th October APEM took part in the annual ‘Wear it Pink’ Day to raise money for Breast Cancer Research. Many organisations and clubs across the UK took part in the day and all wore pink either at their workplaces, schools or even just at home – all that was asked was for a £2 donation for the cause. For this year’s event all 6 APEM offices took part and came into work wearing something pink! In Stockport and Cardiff members of the team also volunteered to bake some pink cakes to get some more donations in the kitty! 

Sam Andrews Royal Parks Half Marathon

APEM’s Sam Andrews, who is a GIS Technician based at the Dorset office, took part in the Royal Parks Marathon on the 9^thof October 2011. 12,500 people came from the UK and beyond to race in the marathon that went through the streets of London. The full route was 13.1 miles starting and finishing in Hyde Park and went through Kensington Gardens, The Green Park and St James’s Park and went past landmarks such as Buckingham Palace and the London Eye. This year saw over 40,000 people attend to spectate and show their support for the participants. 

APEM Sponsor RSPB Event

The Reading Local group of the RSPB, chaired by APEM's Non-Executive Director Dr Peter Spillett, celebrated a special 25th Anniversary Seminar on the evening of the 10th September 2011. It was held at Reading University and, following a drinks reception, 3 distinguished speakers, Martin Spray (CEO, WWT), Philippa Lyons (CEO, BBOWT) and Shaun Thomas (Operations Director, RSPB) gave their views of what the next 25 years might hold for conservation and the environment. Over 100 people attended the event and along with several other environmentally focused businesses, APEM were happy to give a donation of £200. Overall the event made a profit of several hundred pounds for the benefit of the RSPB.

Mark Guy - Robin Hood Marathon

Mark Guy, a NWMAS engineer who helps keep APEM’s aircraft flying, took part in the Robin Hood Marathon in Nottingham on Sunday the 11^th of September. More than 8,500 people took part in the 31^st Robin Hood race and the whole day was blessed with blue skies and sunshine! The race started and finished at the Embankment in Nottingham and took runners through many parts of Nottingham, including some parts of the University grounds and deer parks.  Mark was running in aid of Cancer Research UK – http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/ the world’s leading charity dedicated to beating cancer through research. A very worthy cause! APEM sponsored Mark £50 on completion of the marathon which Mark managed in 4 hours and 35 minutes. Well done to you Mark – now for a well-deserved rest!   

£1000 Donation to Seashell Trust

APEM have recently donated a whopping £1,000 to their chosen charity for 2011 – The Seashell Trust. The Seashell Trust recently organised a selection of fun days and activities over the summer and autumn months to raise much needed cash. Some of the events included various charity runs, abseils and activity days. One event that APEM were particularly intrigued by was the ‘It’s a Knockout’ fun day (see below flyer). Due to weather restrictions APEM missed out on getting a team to compete in the event but despite not being able to take part in the event the Directors felt it would be great to donate the money anyway! For any more information about the Seashell Trust and how you can donate or get involved please see their website at http://www.seashelltrust.org.uk/

Jenny Horne - 2 Marathons in 2 Weeks

APEM’s own Jenny Horne who is an Invertebrate and Diatom Taxonomist based in the Stockport Laboratory took up a huge challenge last month to complete 2 marathons in 2 weeks!  Jenny entered the 2 toughest trial marathons in the UK - Firstly the Man Vs Horse Marathon based in Wales on the 11^th of June and then a marathon in North Devon on the 26^th of June.  She ran with her partner and was raising money for the Weston Park Cancer Charity, a Sheffield based charity that does research and funds treatment for people with cancer all over the country. She had chosen this charity as two of her friends have recently been successfully treated at the cancer facility at their hospital and believed it to be a great cause.

Chew Valley Pikers

Earlier this year some of APEM’s keenest anglers Keith Hendry (Managing Director), Dr Stuart Clough (Director) and Nigel Milner (Senior Fisheries Biologist) helped to organise a charity pike fly fishing event with a group of other likeminded enthusiasts. The 3 day event is held annually at the magnificent Chew Valley Lake where the 8 man team were superbly guided by venue expert John Horsey. For this years event APEM commissioned and donated some specially designed T-shirts for all to wear, each bearing the Chew Valley Pikers header and featuring a stunning painting of a tailwalking pike.

APEM Sign up with Computer Aid

APEM have recently signed an agreement with Computer Aid International – a UK registered charity that aims to reduce poverty through practical ICT solutions. They provide high quality, professionally refurbished computers for reuse in education, health and agriculture in developing countries; such as Liberia, Chile, Malawi and Nepal.

APEM have agreed to send all unused second hand PCs, laptops and other IT equipment to the charity for them to refurbish and distribute accordingly. We are really happy that we can be part of this worthwhile cause and make better use of things that we would usually just recycle! For more information on the charity or if you want to get involved go to the following link http://www.computeraid.org/

APEM Sponsor London Marathon Runner

Ian Halliday of Lombard Aviation Finance – the company in charge of funding APEM’s aerial equipment and aircraft - approached in early March to ask for sponsorship for his attempt at the Virgin London Marathon on the 17^th of April this year. APEM agreed to sponsor Ian a total of £100 on his completion of the event.

(Above) a proud Ian showing off his well deserved medal after the marathon

APEM Get Involved on Red Nose Day 

For Red Nose Day this year APEM held its own bake sale in our Stockport office! All cakes were baked by the Managing Director’s Wife and Daughter and all looked delicious. Employees (and any visitors on the day) were asked to donate any spare change they had for a lovely piece of cake. It seemed to do the trick and many came back for seconds and even thirds!