CVD digs deep for Anthony Nolan Trust

The life-saving leukaemia charity The Anthony Nolan Trust has received a massive boost after receiving a donation of almost £50,000 from a Lanarkshire-based business.

Staff from Clyde Valley Drilling (CVD) Ltd, Scotland's leading diamond drilling company, raised the money after completing a series of fundraising events throughout 2007, and the money will be used to help the Charity maintain and expand the bone marrow register in Scotland.

Every 21 minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with leukaemia or a related illness and for many people a bone marrow transplant represents their only chance of life.  Since its launch in 1974 The Anthony Nolan Trust has succeeded in saving over 5,000 people from the disease, and in order to continue with its work the Charity must raise over £20 million in the UK every year.

Some of the fundraising events undertaken by the staff at CVD included abseiling down the Wallace monument, sponsored runs, swimming with sharks and raffling off a rare black diamond necklace that was specially commissioned by the company.

In September 2007 Owen Barrett, managing director of CVD, trekked 23,000ft to the summit of Mera Peak in Nepal, and in February of this year his fellow director Ewan Ogilvie climbed 19,340ft to reach the summit of Africa's highest mountain Kilimanjaro. Tom McAteer of Balfour Beatty, a client of CVD, also made a significant contribution to the final amount raised by completing a series of sponsored swims.

Owen Barrett said: "At the start of 2007 we set ourselves the ambitious target of raising £50,000 for The Anthony Nolan Trust and to have reached this figure is a tremendous achievement.

"Everyone at the company contributed in one way or another and they should all be congratulated for their efforts.  Hopefully the money will make a real difference to the Charity and allow it to continue saving lives."

Lindsay MacCallum, regional fundraiser for The Anthony Nolan Trust, added:  "As an independent charity, we continually rely on the generous support of individuals and companies, and I'm extremely grateful to all the staff at CVD for helping to raise so much money.

"It costs the Charity £125 to fully tissue-type each new donor and place them onto the register, and the money from CVD will allow us to add an extra 400 people.  If any of these people go onto save a life then it will be a fantastic achievement."