Dean Attwell is getting ready to undertake the second biggest charity challenge of his life, to reach the South Pole. The chief executive officer and co-founder of Redditch, England-headquartered Oakland International, a multi-temperature supply chain, food tempering and contract packing specialist, is self-funding his polar expedition to ensure that all money raised will go directly to support children’s charity Molly Olly’s Wishes.
After successfully completing a North Pole challenge in 2017 and raising over £20,000 to benefit Cancer Research UK, the refrigerated warehouse operator will now go from the cold confines of his commercial environs to a colder environment at the bottom of the world to raise money for a good cause. In preparation, Attwell has been training hard with specialist endurance coaches at Forder PT to ensure he will be pole-ready for this next frozen challenge, which begins with a 14-hour flight to Punta Arenas where together with the rest of his expedition group he will spend two days checking kit, reviewing expedition procedure and undertaking final preparations before flying on to Antarctica.
“We are extremely grateful to Dean and everyone at Oakland for their support. Dean and the team have only recently been introduced to the charity, but have got stuck in straight away,” said Molly Olly’s Wishes Co-founder and Trustee Rachel Ollerenshaw. “This is a really tough challenge and we hope that people will dig deep to support and spur Dean on. Together we can make a very real difference and help to make those dark days brighter for children facing very challenging circumstances.”
Rachel founded the charity with her husband Tim Ollerenshaw following the death of their daughter Molly, who was diagnosed with a Wilms tumor at the age of three. Sadly, after battling the rare kidney cancer for five years, she died in 2011.
Molly Olly’s Wishes supports children aged 0-18, and their families, with additional help to ease the many burdens of living with a terminal or life-threatening illness by granting children individual wishes and providing emotional therapeutic support.
“All expedition costs are covered, so every penny donated will go directly to support the work of Molly Olly’s Wishes which does such amazing work supporting children and their families living with a life threatening or terminal illness,” said Attwell.
On arrival in Antarctica he and the group will then move on to the Union Glacier base camp, spending a day acclimatizing before final drop off at 89 degrees south latitude and the starting point for their trek across the frozen Antarctic landscape to reach the South Pole.
“We’ll be skiing between six and 10 hours a day at an altitude of approximately 3,100 meters before we finally arrive at the South Pole on the 14th of January. Any and all donations to support this wonderful charity, no matter how small, are very much appreciated,” said the Oakland International executive.
Persons interested in making a donation may do so online by visiting Attwell’s fundraising page: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?userUrl=Dean-Attwell&pageUrl=4
More information about Molly Olly’s Wishes is available by visiting https://www.mollyolly.co.uk/
