First Stop dealer, Jet Wheel Tyre, based in Rayleigh, Essex has been out sponsoring charity initiatives this summer. Jet Wheel Tyre lent their support to a Ferrari Day in aid of Little Havens Hospice which is established to support terminally ill children and their families. The event brought together over 40 Ferrari drivers from around the county who took members of the public for a spin in their car in return for charity donations.
First Stop store, Steve Andrews Tyres was involved in the ‘Think You Can Drive’ event, held last weekend to raise awareness of safer driving on Cornish roads. Steve Andrews Tyres, part of Bridgestone’s First Stop network of tyre stores, teamed up with JBM maintenance to have a significant presence at the event at the Royal Cornwall Showground in Wadebridge. Together they hosted a large hospitality area which featured Bridgestone’s F1 simulator where young drivers could test their driving skills and pick up advice of road and tyre safety in return for a small charity donation.
Now in its second year, the successful event was organised by the Rotary Club of Truro and supported by Devon and Cornwall Constabulary, Cornwall Fire Service and Cornwall County Council to encourage safer driving on Cornish roads. Local police, fire and ambulance services, along with the team from Steve Andrews Tyres, were on hand demonstrating the importance of road safety to local drivers with accident and skid pan simulators. The event culminated with a landing visit by both the police and air ambulance helicopters.
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Vacu-Lug Traction Tyres Limited recent staged a online charity auction in aid of Transaid Week 2008, believed to be the transport industry’s first ever eBay charity sale. The virtual auction raised a total of £560 and the winning bidder was Nigel Moore, proprietor of independent tyre distributor Tyre Zone Limited of Sittingbourne, Kent.
“We decided to support Transaid Week and were keen to do something a little different in order to catch the imagination and thereby raise as much money as possible,” says Dave Alsop, Vacu-Lug’s Fleet Sales Director. “In the event, our eBay auction was a tremendous success. It attracted a great deal of interest and we saw the price pushed upwards by a lively rush of bidding towards the end – we were delighted with the sum raised!”
Blue, yellow and – in some cases – blue-and-yellow bricks once part of Goodyear’s famous landmark chimney in Wolverhampton are to be sold, with the proceeds going to charity.
The beloved 150 ft tower was felled last month in the presence of 1,000 onlookers, and now 350 pieces of industrial memorabilia are available for purchase. Blue bricks will go for £2, yellow for £5, and the much sought after two-tone bricks will be sold for a tenner. All monies raised will be donated to cancer care specialists Macmillan Nurses.
Thirteen employees of Goodyear Dunlop are staging a four-day, 320-mile endurance cycle ride to benefit Birmingham Children’s Hospital. The challenge will start from the company’s head office in Erdington on 18th September, and will see riders raising much-needed funds for the leading medical facility.
The manufacturer pledged to raise £50,000 to fund the development of a specialist play area for the Childhood and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) at the hospital earlier in the year, a target the company is on track to meet, thanks in no small part to the efforts of the firm’s thirteen Lance Armstrongs and Victoria Pendletons.
National Tyres and Autocare is continuing support of cancer charity, Breast Cancer Care. During the month of May, National staff members were encouraging customers to donate £1 to Breast Cancer Care and promoting the charity in all press advertising, with plans to continue to support the charity throughout the year. The charity provides essential services such as a free and confidential helpline, website, discussion forums, courses and one-to-one support sessions.
Tony Neill, Chief Executive, NTA, commented “We are delighted to support the exceptional work carried out by Breast Cancer Care. Cancer touches the lives of so many people and we are proud to be able to raise funds towards providing vital care for cancer sufferers and their families.”
Barrie Flemming, Bosch Garage equipment product manager, received the GEA Certificate at the Garage Equipment Association (GEA) Dinner on 16 April. Bosch was presented in appreciation and recognition of valuable contributions to BEN – Motor and Allied Trade.
Bosch supports the charity as a media partner as well as many of their hosted events, throughout the year. These events are vital when increasing the awareness of the tremendous work that BEN provides, ensuring thousands of colleagues and friends receive the help that they need.
Goodyear Dunlop UK has raised over £40,000 for the Red Balloon Appeal at Birmingham Children’s Hospital and has just pledged to raise a further £50,000. Chosen by the staff as the official charity partnership back in March 2007, the Red Balloon Appeal was given a significant boost when Goodyear Dunlop contributed over £40,000 to the new children’s Burn Centre – a brand new state-of-the-art development, serving over half the population in the UK.
In March this year, Goodyear Dunlop staff decided to make a further commitment to the Red Balloon Appeal, by undertaking to raise £50,000 over 18 months for a new Child and Adolescent Mental Health Play area.
Following National Tyres and Autocare’s initiative in the month of March to raise funds for Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres, representatives from the company pledged £25,000 to a Glasgow Maggie’s centre. The money was raised at National Tyres outlets; during the March initiative customers were asked if they would donate £1 when making a purchase. To date, National Tyres has raised over £200,000 to help cancer suffers over the years.
Cooper Tire & Rubber Europe has announced that it is supporting one of the UK’s largest off-road charity events this year as 4×4 enthusiasts aim to raise more than £100,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support. The “Mac 4×4” takes place from 7-9 March and challenges off-roaders from around the UK to take on a 1000-mile trek across some of the country’s most challenging and breathtaking terrain. The 2007 event raised an incredible £108,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support and this year, with the 60 entries filled within just 10 days, organisers are aiming to raise even more.
Carl Liversage, from Hampshire, and Nick Gage, from Surrey, opted to use Cooper’s Discoverer STT tyres for their Mitsubishi Pajero, thanks to the rubber’s reputation for tackling off-road courses with ease. Cooper will supply the rubber for free with Merityre, fitting them free of charge. “This event means a lot to people who take part, as they or someone they know has been affected by cancer,” said Liversage, who names his 4 x 4 “LePaj” and uses it as a family vehicle when not off-roading.
SEMA has established the SEMA Cares Committee, charged with identifying and creating additional opportunities for its members to enrich the lives of children nationwide. “SEMA members have a long history of giving back to our communities by assisting children and families who require a helping hand,” said Joel Ayres, who will be serving as the SEMA Cares Committee Chairman. “The SEMA Cares Committee will allow us to be even more effective, as we work as a collective group and pool our resources.”
Among the goals of the SEMA Cares Committee will be to establish an even higher goal of charitable activity by creating new opportunities for SEMA members to give back through more events and to identify new charities to support. (Tire Review/Akron)
Bridgestone has donated a consignment of tyres to Mercy Ships, the international charity operating hospital ships that provide health care in some of the world’s poorest countries. A selection of Bridgestone’s rugged 4×4 Dueller tyres have been supplied, and these will see use on vehicles that travel into remote areas of the bush, across difficult terrain and dirt tracks to reach sick people that otherwise could not be treated.
For Des Collins, vice president Public Relations, Bridgestone Europe, this donation makes sense in several ways: “Bridgestone has a sister company in Liberia, Firestone Natural Rubber Company, which employs more than 6,000 people in the production of natural rubber. As a part of its commitment to employees and their families in Liberia, Firestone operates its own schools and hospitals there, and consequently knows well the local need for health care. Therefore, Bridgestone was attracted to helping Mercy Ships in their efforts in West Africa and we are confident that the Dueller 4×4 tyres will help them in their great work.”
One in ten people who drive for work have admitted falling asleep at the wheel in the past year, according to new research by road safety charity Brake and Green Flag. The shocking figure is more than twice as high as the number of drivers who don’t drive for work but who say they have fallen asleep in the past year, which is still an alarmingly high one in 25 drivers. Nodding off for just a second or two at the wheel can kill: travelling at 60mph on a motorway (one of the main types of road where fatigue commonly occurs), a driver covers 27 metres (88 feet) per second.
One of the main causes of nodding off at the wheel is insufficient sleep the night before. The research has found that people who drive for work are more likely to drive after insufficient sleep. Half of the people who drive for work who were surveyed say they sometimes drive after less than five hours’ sleep, compared to just over a third (35 per cent) of people who drive only outside work. Research shows that if you drive after less than five hours’ sleep, you have just a one in ten chance of staying fully awake on a lengthy journey.
Motorists in the Lancashire town of Skelmersdale claim that the large number of roundabouts in the town is the cause of premature tyre wear, which is both expensive and potentially dangerous. Apparently, Skelmersdale boasts more than 40 roundabouts, including Half Mile Island, which is said to be the biggest in the world and taxi drivers and tyre fitters have reported extremely high rates of tyre wear. Said John Kieran, of Skelmersdale Express Tyres: “All the cabbies constantly have to have their tyres turned around because they wear out so quickly, especially on the outside of the passenger side”.
Cabbie Steven Crawley reckons the roundabouts in Skelmersdale wear his tyres down so much he gets through about six sets a year. He said: “My tyres only last about two months at the most and I have to turn them around every six weeks”. So widespread is the problem that it has been given the name of the “Skem Rash”.
Bridgestone’s subsidiary in the African nation of Liberia, Firestone Natural Rubber Company, LLC, has announced that its cargo donation program will be extended throughout 2008. The program, which began in 2006 with the aim of helping to rebuild the civil war ravaged West African country, provides space for relief goods and other donated cargo from aid organisations on ships operated by Firestone Liberia. To date more than 30 aid organisations have signed up to ship donated goods – including medicine, vitamins, food, generators and building materials.
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