Consultants gear up for 7-day Chain Reaction cycling challenge
Having raised over $37 million for children’s charities to date, this year’s Chain Reaction cycling challenges are due to commence this month, with several consultants featuring among the teams.
A number of senior consulting leaders are gearing up for this year’s Sydney Chain Reaction cycling challenge, which kicks off in New Zealand’s South Island in less than a month.
The annual charity event will see approximately 45 riders cover 1,000 kilometers of varying terrain over the course of seven days, with money raised going towards the support of children in need. The Melbourne and Brisbane challenges will be held in March.
Aimed at a selected group of executives from the property and professional services industries, the Chain Reaction Challenge was founded in 2007 by KordaMentha real estate managing director Berrick Wilson after his since-recovered daughter was rushed to hospital with a brain haemorrhage at just two days old.
Now pushing towards 40 completed rides, Chain Reaction has since its inception raised more than $37 million on behalf of its children’s charity partners.
Among this year’s participants for the Sydney challenge, which will start in Christchurch and wend its way east and south through spectacular mountain scenery to Queenstown, are FTI Consulting senior managing directors Joseph Hansell and Ben Shrimpton – with the firm returning as a major team sponsor.
Bravely joining the pair is senior consultant Sarah Noble, who only just moved to Sydney from London with FTI Consulting at the end of last year and describes herself as cycling novice.
Also among the peloton will be Stephen Carpenter, KPMG’s national lead partner for deal advisory tax, who is participating for the fifth time and has personally raised more than $100,000 to date. In addition, KPMG will feature through a jersey sponsorship.
Meanwhile, Carpenter will face friendly competition from Ernst & Young consulting and financial services partnership pair Rob Desoisa and Warrick Gard, who will ride for team Aliro with EY as a corporate sponsor.
A $1 million target
After a record $4.2 million raised across last year’s events, this year the charity is aiming at a $1 million target for the Sydney 7-day challenge, with the primary beneficiaries to be the disadvantaged children and adolescents supported by BaptistCare Hopestreet and So They Can. Hopestreet aids youth aged 10 to17 who are trying to overcome personal trials, while So They Can provides education to children living in poverty in Kenya and Tanzania.
The Sydney challenge will run from the 26th of this month with the Melbourne group to follow, including teams sponsored by KordaMentha and Accenture. The latter will feature a squad of riders of mixed seniority, headed by A/NZ Industry Consulting and Resources group practice leaders Andrew Woolf and Glenn Heppell.
Managing directors Joshua Bramah and Eric Croeser are also signed up, as are associate director Juan Gonzalez and senior manager Jarrod Harrington.
