Category: Charity Work

Engage Hospitality are delighted to announce our newest charity partnership, as we team up with Challenging MND.

During this time, all proceeds from the auctions at our ICON events will be going towards the great cause and we will also be getting involved in some of the challenges and events that Challenging MND are organising.

Inspired by Alex Gibson who was diagnosed in 2018, Challenging MND was set up with the mission to provide financial support and assistance to those living with motor neurone disease, to complete any lasting memorable challenges or experiences. MND is a debilitating progressive disease which involves degeneration of the motor neurones and wasting of muscles.

Challenging MND work tirelessly to create lasting memories for those living with MND and their families. They achieve this by offering bespoke challenges or activities of their choosing, fostering a sense of empowerment and joy.

Alex perseveres through physically and mentally challenging events each year to raise funds and awareness for this disease. Although a small, local charity based in the UK, Challenging MND are growing stronger each year and expanding their reach to beneficiaries throughout the country.

This year alone, they have supported 157 individuals living with MND across the UK. Alex’s unwavering dedication to establishing the charity is truly inspiring.

Upcoming Events

There are some amazing events coming up this year, which will be tremendous fun whilst at the same time raising money to help those living with motor neurone disease.

Charity Quiz Night
Billericay Tennis Club, Billericay, CM12 9SA
27 April 2024

Charity Golf Day
Heron Country Golf Course, Brentwood, CM13 3LW
30 April 2024

Annual Sportive
Brentwood Centre, Brentwood, CM15 9NN
23 June 2024

Family Summer Fayre
Deanes Sports Centre, Daws Heath, SS7 2TD
13 July 2024

Charity Gala
Stockbrook Manor, Billericay, CM12 0SP
23 November 2024

Keep an eye on Challenging MND’s website and Instagram page to keep up to date with upcoming events and what you can do to get involved!

Engage Hospitality is proud to announce its successful fundraising efforts in support of the Kerslake Robshaw Foundation during a series of sporting events in February and March, including England v Wales and Ireland at Twickenham, England v Brazil at Wembley and Cheltenham Festival.

Throughout these events, auctions took place in our ICON facilities with all proceeds going to the foundation. We want to thank all those involved in the auctions and are delighted to announce we have raised over £29,000 for wonderful causes.

Founded by couple Chris Robshaw former England rugby captain, and Camilla Kerslake, BRIT nominated opera singer, the Kerslake Robshaw Foundation envisions a society where every young person discovers life-enriching experiences through music and sport. Their mission is twofold: to harness the healing power of music and sport as tools for recovery among young people impacted by grief, abuse, and violence, and to provide equal access for all young people, regardless of background, ensuring that access to music and sport is not confined by circumstance.

They passionately believe music and sport are a are vital part of young people’s lives. They offer not just a creative outlet, but an opportunity to socialise, and a means to stay physically active. Unfortunately, financial barriers often deny access to pay for lessons or the opportunity to join a team. As a result, they can miss out on important benefits that can help them reach their full potential. The Kerslake Robshaw Foundation is a grant making charity, they award grants to innovative organisations that help young people enjoy the benefits that music and sport provide, no matter what their background. 

Organisations that the donations will be supporting include:

I Choose Freedom – A wonderful independent charity who provide refuge and a path to freedom for survivors of domestic abuse, the grant is providing physical activity sessions for women and children attending the refuge.

London Youth Choirs – Brilliant and vibrant organisation, the foundation is supporting an engagement programme working in state schools and communities. Young people are invited to sing in a choir in an environment that is inclusive, supportive and fun, through free workshops, Singing Assemblies and intergenerational Come-and-Sing days.

Buttle UK – Renowned organisation providing support to children and young people who are in poverty and crisis; including domestic abuse, kinship care, estrangement, bereavement. The grant is providing music and sports-related items and activities to enhance the physical, mental, or emotional well-being of the children and young people they support.

Brixton Chamber Orchestra – Community focused charity who champion orchestral music, presenting it to new audiences in unexpected venues. The grant is engaging children with music-making on a range of levels, particularly those who haven’t done so before and have no encouragement at home to do so.

Intergenerational Music Making – an incredible organisation bringing together generations through the transformative power of music and sport, the grant is helping deliver projects that focus on reducing loneliness, isolation, improving mental health and wellbeing whilst creating access to music and physical provisions.

Engage Hospitality are delighted to announce that we are working with the Kerslake Robshaw Foundation in order to help give opportunities to children through sport and music.

Chris Robshaw has been a friend of Engage for many years now, championing our ICON spirit and his current work alongside wife Camilla Kerslake highlights that.

England’s first home game at Twickenham is the perfect opportunity to celebrate the foundation and our ICON facility is sponsored by the foundation itself, with a fantastic package opportunity with Chris in our auction brochure.

The Kerslake Robshaw Foundation aims to give as many children as possible the chance to enjoy music and sport through providing access to a network of influential figures and professionals to help guide them on their journey, whether the take part for fun or as a potential career path.

The Foundation is already investing in initiatives to use music and sport to improve recovery from trauma, as well as forming proactive partnerships to open-up the opportunities that music and sport can have on improving young lives. We are very excited to see what the beneficiaries of the KRF will achieve once their full potential is unlocked.

On the partnership, Chris has said “The Kerslake Robshaw Foundation are extremely excited to be working with Engage this Six Nations, it will be a great opportunity for us to grow and give more young people a sporting or music opportunity. Engage and I have supported each other over the last few years and now brilliantly they are taking the relationship one step further to support us. We are extremely grateful. Enjoy the game and come on England!” 

We look forward to this brilliant partnership and are delighted to be supporting a inspirational foundation.