The recent NTDA annual dinner held in Manchester saw Infinity Tyres donate two return air tickets from London to Dubai (home of the Al Dobowi Group– owners of the Infinity brand). The tickets were auctioned by Peter Gaster, former NTDA chairman and raised £1600 for the BEN charity, which is reportedly a record for the event.
Cooper Tire is getting involved with The Breast Cancer Research Foundation’s October “Think Pink” campaign in the USA. “Cooper is thrilled to join hands with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation to support and raise awareness of this disease that affects not only women, but the men in their lives, as well,” said Dave Craig, Cooper's director of channel and consumer development. “The Professional Bull Riders is a wonderful demonstration of this, proving that men are just as passionate about fighting breast cancer and are not afraid to show their true colours — pink.”
Once again Yokohama has held its LIVEecoMOTION event in partnership with MTV Japan. The ‘one coin’ live charity event has been held annually since 2007 and the October 1 concert in Tokyo raised 492,500 yen (£3,780) in admission fees. On October 12, Yokohama donated this amount plus a further 37,280 yen in contributions to WWF Japan, which is – sorry wrestling fans – the local chapter of the World Wide Fund for Nature. The proceeds will be utilised for the organisation’s activities aimed at combating global warming.
Up to 42,000 British Touring Car Championship fans have been praised by HiQ for helping to raise £5,000 for Breast Cancer Care. Clad in pink, the network descended upon Brands Hatch to make the final race weekend of the season one to remember for HiQ's official charity. The fast fit network’s pink girls were on hand to give away caps and replica cars in return for donations to the cause, and after counting the particularly heavy collections buckets from Sunday, the network can now reveal that £5,000 was raised through generous donations. Of that total, the BTCC marshals at Brands Hatch have been singled out for a special mention, after raising £600 themselves.
This weekend a pink tyre will be rolled across the Black Country, part of the way by grown men wearing hot pink polo shirts. And while such a sight may be a rarity in the West Midlands, sound reasons lurk behind the pinkness and the tyre rolling. On October 16, the country’s largest HiQ franchisee is initiating a 15 mile tyre roll to raise money for Breast Cancer Care.
When the HiQ network promised to go pink during October, it wasn’t disclosing plans to see the popular singer in concert. No, it meant that during the month of October, the fast-fitter’s 150 centres are going all out to help hit the £100,000 target for its chosen charity, Breast Cancer Care, with every outlet challenged to raise £275 for the cause.
Hankook Tyre UK recently (16th September) hosted its second annual Golf Classic Day at the Hellidon Lakes Golf & Country Club, near Northampton. As the name suggests, water features strongly in the layout of the course and it proved a stern test for the 64 golfers, made up of tyre retailers and fleet managers. Joining the guests were Matt Cornwell and James Elliott, two first team players from Northampton Saints Rugby Club, sponsored by Hankook and currently riding high at the top of the Aviva Premiership.
In November, ATS Euromaster’s head of Business Development, Kevin Steward, will direct his efforts towards development of another kind when he sets off on a 420 kilometre ride through Tanzania as a participant in the transport charity Transaid’s ‘Cycle Tanzania’ fundraising initiative. Money raised through Steward’s efforts will help the independent charity’s work in Africa and the developing world.
‘Ride for the Roses’ is a well-known charity event initiated by seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong. First held in Austin, Texas, a Ride for the Roses race has been run annually in the Netherlands since 1998. This year’s event was held in the city of Venlo on September 5 and attracted more than 11,000 participants, including eight motivated employees from Dutch wholesaler Euro-Tyre. Together the Euro-Tyre cyclists covered a combined total of more than 900 kilometres and their contribution to the Dutch Cancer Association, the KWF, was boosted by an additional donation from company management.
In China, Cooper Tire has been continuing a series of measures designed to integrate the company into the communities in which it operates. One such programme is Cooper’s ‘Happy Soccer Class’ which recently saw Alex Koi, general manager of Cooper Tire China operations, lead his team of employees to Tanjiaqiao Central Primary School in Huangshan, also known as the Yellow Mountain, Anhui province. Since January 2010, Cooper Tire working closely with famous soccer commentator Huang Jianxiang, officially launched the Cooper Tires charity soccer with the theme of ‘The wheel of Joy – happy soccer class’. This campaign aims to teach soccer skills to the children.
Following a £170,000 makeover, HiQ is ready to show its Bromford Lane, Erdington centre off to the public. The fast fitter says the Erdington outlet’s fortunes have enjoyed a “huge upturn” since its refurbishment and rebranding and thus between Thursday July 29 and Saturday July 31 it will officially commemorate its new look with a series of safety oriented charity events.
If Ranulph Fiennes was planning a 10,000 mile road trip across Asia, he probably wouldn’t select a Daihatsu Hijet van as his vehicle of choice. But four students have spurned the Land Rover and other rugged machines trusted by explorers in favour of this Japanese microvan. It’s probably just as well then that they made a last minute visit to a fast fit centre in Plymouth to get everything ship shape.
Michelin’s X One MaxiTrailer tyre has been named Fleet Safety Product of the Year at the annual Fleet Safety Forum awards for excellence, organised by road safety charity Brake. Brake’s decision to reward Michelin was supported by data recorded on a tilt-table at QinetiQ’s Chobham-based test facility which found that a fully laden 44-tonne tractor unit and trailer fitted with 455/45R22.5 X One MaxiTrailer tyres achieved a 6.5 per cent improvement in tilt angle (the angle at which a vehicle will overturn) compared to the standard 385/65 R22.5 fitment.
For the third consecutive year Bridgestone has donated tyres to Mercy Ships, an international charity that runs hospital ships that bring medical services to some of the world's poorest regions. The consignment of Dueler 694 4×4 tyres will be used on Mercy Ships’ fleet of 4-wheel drive Nissans. As an On/Off road tyre, the Dueler 694 is ideal for the mixed use and rough conditions faced by Mercy Ship vehicles around towns, air strips and ports.
Malcolm England, general manager of Unipart’s Garage Equipment Services division and recently appointed president of the Garage Equipment Association (GEA) has promoted quality, safety and service during his president’s speech at this year’s GEA dinner.
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