Philips

July 15, 2022 - Stepping up for the local community: PPDS UK team joins colleagues from across the AV industry for PPDS Global Partner Alliance (GPA) member, Airwave Europe's annual 25-mile endurance walk fundraising for local children's hospice.

For the fourth year running, the PPDS UK team has supported the annual Airwave Europe endurance event, trekking 25 miles (40km) along the Thames Path, collectively raising £6,000 to support children with life-limiting conditions.

Airwave Europe, a valued PPDS Global Partner Alliance (GPA) member, launched into its first annual charity event in 2018 to raise vital funds for the Chestnut Tree House children's charity and hospice. Chestnut Tree House provides hospice care services and community support for children and young people with progressive life-shortening conditions. At a cost of over £3.5m a year per person, the hospice cares for 300 children and young adults from 0-19 in the East and West Sussex, Brighton & Hove, and South East Hampshire areas, providing the best quality of life for children, young people and their families. The charity offers practical, social and spiritual support throughout each child's life, however short it may be.

Each year, Airwave gathers members of the AV industry embarking on an endurance event, which to date have included the Three Peaks Challenge (2018), the South Downs Marathon (2019), the North Downs Marathon (2021) and this year, the Thames Path Trek – a 25-mile walk along the River Thames from Henley on Thames (Oxford) to Windsor (Surrey). During this latest event, participants, including solutions partner Wifirst, clocked up over 1,125,00 steps combined (almost 500 miles), raising over £6,000 to date.

Kendra Ingram, PPDS UK Business Manager Professional TV was proud to have participated in both inspiring events: "I started my running career – starting with couch to 5k – during 2020 and having the opportunity to help to raise vital funds for this very worthy charity has been a fantastic way of bringing extra benefits from my fitness efforts this year.

"Together with my colleagues in the UK team, we have supported the Airwave endurance event annually since its creation and I have walked every year. Helping to raise funds for the incredible care provided by the Chestnut Tree House is worth every step and every painful blister sustained along the way. My thanks to Airwave Europe, who have raised tens of thousands of pounds for the charity since 2018, and to all those who took part and kindly donated. The JustGiving page is still open, so if you can spare a few pennies or pounds, it will go along way to improving lives."