• Daredevil climb generates £24,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support
• National Grid staff in two-year partnership to raise half a million pounds for Macmillan
Hinckley’s plucky Sally Barson took charity fundraising to new heights when she scaled a 150-foot electricity pylon in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.
National Grid employee Sally’s white-knuckle climb helped raise a whopping £24,000 for the charity. She joined an intrepid band of colleagues, based in the company’s offices in Solihull, Warwick and London, for the adrenaline-fuelled ascent of a National Grid training pylon taller than Nelson’s column.
Donations poured in for the fundraiser, held at National Grid’s Eakring training academy in Nottinghamshire, on Thursday (4 June).
Thanks to generous colleagues, friends and family, Sally and her colleagues doubled their original charity target to more than £12,000. National Grid has pledged to match their efforts, with £24,000 set to be handed over to Macmillan to pay for heating grants for people with cancer.
Climbing pylons is a routine part of the job for National Grid’s force of overhead line engineers but Sally and her workmates are more used to having their feet firmly on the ground.
She said: “Everyone has been touched by cancer in some way. I was diagnosed with skin cancer four years ago. The prognosis was excellent and I am left with a very small scar on my face but many others face far more serious challenges.
“For me this was an opportunity to give my time and to support Macmillan. This is by far the scariest thing I have ever done but it seemed the least I could do to help and support Macmillan Cancer Support. I am so very proud to be part of an amazing team of people.”
In a two-year fundraising partnership with Macmillan, National Grid staff are aiming to raise half a million pounds to fund heating grants for people with cancer.
Full safety precautions were taken for the climb. The ten-strong team donned protective equipment before being harnessed to the training pylon, which is connected to non-live wires, and is used to train linesmen. They were accompanied by qualified National Grid engineers throughout the event.
Members of the public should never attempt to climb pylons. It is extremely dangerous as they risk death or serious injury from high voltage electricity or falls.
Notes to editors - archive
National Grid is one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the world and was named Responsible Business of the Year 2014 by Business in the Community. This accolade acknowledges all of our efforts in getting involve with the things that really matter to us and to society. We own and manage the grids that connect people to the energy they need, from whatever the source. In Britain and the north-eastern states of the US we run systems that deliver gas and electricity to millions of people, businesses and communities.
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