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UAE. The Jumeirah Beach Hotel is hosting the Travel Retail Smile Train Fun Run on 22 November, the day before the annual Dubai Duty Free Golf Tournament, and organisers are hoping that up to 50 travel retail industry executives – of all sizes, shapes, and fitness levels – will take part.
This fund raising initiative, for what has become one of travel retail’s most popular charities – The Smile Train – is being organised by industry members, including The Moodie Report’s Mandy Shine and Essential Communications’ Rowena Holland.
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“We really hope this Fun Run will appeal to everyone who is planning to be in Dubai at this time, whether they are currently running or not “ |
Mandy Shine Commercial Director The Moodie Report |
As the world’s leading cleft charity, The Smile Train has so far provided free cleft surgery for over 300,000 children, particularly in emerging countries. This life-changing operation can be done for as little as US$250, and in as little as 45 minutes.
“We really hope this Fun Run will appeal to everyone who is planning to be in Dubai at this time, whether they are currently running or not,” said Ms Shine. “We know a lot of people will think they can’t do it, but it’s over three months away which is plenty of time to train for either the 5k or 10k.
Pretty much anybody should be able to walk 5k, which is the equivalent of just over 3miles, in not much over an hour,” she continued. “And if you really can’t run or walk yourself, then hopefully you can sponsor somebody who is doing it.”
Monies can be donated directly to The Smile Train through the “˜Just Giving’ website and each runner can set up their own fund raising page quickly and easily – check out justgiving.com/mandyshine or justgiving.com/rowenaholland as examples.
The organisers have also set up a link to allow companies or individuals to donate to the event as a whole rather than sponsoring individuals. Click here to access the relevant page.
In addition, it is hoped that companies from the industry will cover the costs of organising the event through sponsorship and provide additional incentives and attractions for the fundraiser.
“We will be sending out regular bulletins to registrants with training hints and tips and there will be a Travel Retail Smile Train Run Blog via The Moodie Report where we can all share our training highs and lows and I’m sure there’ll be plenty of both,” added Ms Shine.
The run is restricted to 50 industry participants and already 21 people have signed up, including John Sutcliffe and Michael Murphy (ARIME), Karl Sutcliffe (Muscat Duty Free), Christine and Ray Martin (TRT UK), John Sime and Katrina Cooper (Emirates Airline), Garry Maxwell (Premier Portfolio), Richard Thorpe (CAT Design) , Nadine Heubel (Gebr Heinemann), Martin Moodie (The Moodie Report), James Kfouri (Patons), Max Williams and Angie Mullen (Ultra Marine), Diana Albiol (Diana Albiol Media Relations), Thomas Henningsen (Puma) and Andre Levy (Protege International).
To ensure a place in the run, e-mail Row Holland at row@essentialcommunications.org, indicating whether you are taking part in the 10k (6.2 miles) or 5k (3.1 miles) option as soon as possible. Those who have already indicated that they will run are also asked to confirm this to Row by e-mail.
“If we have 50 industry participants and everyone raises just £500 each, that would be a total donation of £25,000 or nearly US$50,000,” added Ms Holland. “Just think how many smiles that would bring to children’s faces.
“The run will start at 8am, before the heat of the day kicks in, which participants might want to bear in mind when booking flights. If you are going to be in Dubai and really can’t run on the day, then please come along and support the event. We’ll all need cheering on,” she said.
For general information, contact Rowena Holland: row@essentialcommunications.org. Tel: + 44 (0) 1883 622748. Mobile: +44 (0) 7710 219784.
For information on sponsorship opportunities, contact Mandy Shine: mandy.shine@the moodiereport.com. Tel: +971 4 394 3293, Mobile: +971 504 585 068.
For more information on The Smile Train, visit www.smiletrain.org.
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