Today we built the world’s longest picnic table at Potters Field, Tower Bridge, London.

The event was sponsored by MasterCard to help raise awareness of ‘The Big Lunch’ on 5 June 2011. The Big Lunch is a very simple idea from the Eden Project. The aim is to get as many people as possible across the whole of the UK to have lunch with their neighbours in a simple act of community, friendship and fun.

Alex James was there:

So was Boris:

Feeling Peckish??

And for those on the Dukan Diet, a lo-cal Stats Fest: the 90 metre table required a staggering 3540 screws, 1,230 metres of timber and weighed in at an immense 2.75 tonnes – the weight of a small whale!

Live and direct – a personal message from Ben Fender, founder and director of Drive

Dear friends,
As you may know, I’ve been involved in raising money for Cancer Research UK for some years now. This year I decided it was time to do something a little bit different. So I’m going to be taking part in ‘Project Brazil’.

I’m writing to ask for your support.

On June 11th, I’ll be travelling to rural Brazil where I will be working hard to restore and extend a remote community school. The project has been developed in partnership with the local population and will give children and adults the chance to continue to be educated amidst their families and communities rather than having to move to the city.
The aim of the project is to allow this rural community to develop by encouraging those with talent and drive to stay and help build up the region in a positive way.

Travel to and from Brazil is personally funded by me. The team here at Drive productions will be supporting me as much as possible from thousands of miles away, and will hopefully be keeping those interested updated in blog form (as far as that’s possible).
The team taking part in Project Brazil are all asking for sponsorship. Funds raised will go towards building materials for the school, but in the main, to Cancer Research UK and The Dallaglio Foundation.

I will be working alongside the entrepreneurial Steve Hayes, Chairman of The Dallaglio Foundation and initiator of the project. As long-standing suppliers to Cancer Research UK, Drive has worked on numerous high profile events in the charity’s busy fundraising calendar for the past five years, producing events such as ‘Emeralds & Ivy’ and ‘Sound & Vision’ for Cancer Research UK and ’8Rocks’ for the Dallaglio Foundation itself.

You can find out more about Project Brazil here on the Drive website.

However big or small, any donation makes a difference so if you can please donate here:
http://www.justgiving.com/Benedick-Hammond

Thank you so much – wish me luck!

The Challenge

On June 11th Project Brazil will travel to the remote Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park in Brazil where we will work hard to restore and extend Adesuita School, a remote community school where 130 students, aged 4 – 60 years old, are educated.
Completing this project will enable many more children in the area to remain at home and be educated near their families.
The project has been developed in partnership with the local population and will give children and adults the chance to continue to be educated amidst their families and community, giving the local population a chance to develop and grow in a positive direction.

My Contribution

I am sure you would all like to know the nitty gritty of what I will be doing, so far I’ve got a fairly all-inclusive list which I’m sure will amuse…
Painting, art / teaching, playgroup / electrical / plumbing / carpentry / plastering / football / languages / gardening / and finally singing. Yes. Singing.

Adesuita School, Kalungas, Brazil

The project will take place in the Kalungas region, the Kalungas people are rich in history and culture, but they live in poverty.
Adesuita School doesn’t have sufficient space to attend the needs of the region. There is a necessity to build two new classrooms and do various repairs to the rest of the building.
The project has been developed in partnership with the local population and will give children and adults the chance to continue to be educated amidst their families and community, giving the local population a chance to develop and grow in a positive direction.
Our aim by the end of the project is to build an additional 2 classrooms which will serve over 60 students, repaint and repair the whole building and build outdoor play areas which are safe areas for the children to play.

The Cause at Home

Cancer Research UK is the world’s leading organisation dedicated to cancer research.
Neuroblastoma is a cancer that affects children, mostly under the age of 5 years, and it develops from the cells left behind from a baby’s development in the womb. Neuroblastoma often begins in the stomach but can spread to other parts of the body such as the bones, liver and skin.
The trial is being headed up by Dr Penelope Brock, based at Great Ormand Street Hospital. Dr Brock is testing a type of immunotherapy – a treatment that helps the child’s own immune system to recognise and destroy cancer cells. It has been described as ‘possibly the biggest breakthrough in neuroblastoma for a very long time’.
I have paid £500 for travel and expenses, the rest of the money I hope to raise will go towards funding a clinical trial outlined above.

Please dig deep, any amount will make a difference.

The Drive team: pictured here with Barbara Windsor at the ‘Vitality Ball’ for Age UK, which raised 230K last week

It’s official – we’re happiest at 74*

The ‘Vitality Ball‘, produced by Drive for Age UK last week, raised a phenomenal £230,000.

As Age UK is the only charity to focus research funds on later life, we are immensely proud to have contributed to this effort.

For many people, facing the challenges that come with age can be lonely and isolating. To know there is a charity specifically there to help, support and advise is reassuring news.

Especially when you’ve just discovered the fabric conditioner in the fridge.

It’s hardly news to discover that we are all living longer these days – life expectancy for women has risen to the ripe old age of eighty, with men not far behind. But it might come as a pleasant surprise to find out that life for many just gets better and better.

If our Age Quiz is anything to go by – and you can view some of the comments we’ve been sent on twitter (#AgeQuiz) – it’s not just the past that’s a blast.

Check out some of the following role models:

• Astronaut John Glenn, who went into space when he was 77.
• Mae West – made her last film ‘Sexette’, age 93
• Buster Martin – 101 – marathon runner (who sadly passed away this April)
• Queen Elizabeth 1 – miraculously, for her time, reigned until nearly 70
• Doris ‘Granny D’ Haddock – politician and political activist at 93
• Olivia Riley – started blogging age 104

So don’t worry about going South for the Summer, follow Katie From Oxford’s advice and celebrate your next birthday by going para-gliding – however old you are.

You can visit Age UK on the web (http://www.ageuk.org.uk) and follow them on twitter (@age_uk).

*Sources include Susanna Rustin at The Guardian (http://bit.ly/c3HHeg), The New York Times (http://nyti.ms/a50HP0), Fox News (http://fxn.ws/m2pf37), Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org).

The ‘Vitality Ball’ 2011: Drive Produce Inaugural Charity Fundraiser for Age UK.

Come on, drop the Botox. Trying to “turn the clock back” is so last century. This year, it’s an Age UK thang – and it’s all about respect rather than denial.

This is what’s on our mind this weekend after producing the ‘Vitality Ball’ for Age UK, their inaugural fundraising event – and let’s hope it becomes become an annual – held on 5 May 2011 at The Brewery, City of London. We’re still waiting on the final fund-raising figure so we’ll let you know – but our eye-witnesses tell us the event was a huge success.

Celebrity guests included Barbara Windsor and June Whitfield – both shining examples of the ‘vitality’ that the charity chose to reflect their new brand and ethos – a vitality that was embodied by a vibrant evening’s entertainment. Compered by Roger Monkhouse of C4 ‘Nine out of Ten Cats’ Fame and led by Britain’s Got Talent contender Stavros Flatley, the audience of 400 were also treated to a headlining set from Gabriella Cilmi, Broken Heart DJ’s, Roxy Velvet, the Polka Dots and the Swing Dancers.

The evening also comprised an auction, silent auction and raffle, supported by senior stakeholders, donors, celebrities and suppliers.

Age UK are one of the most powerful and influential organisations in the UK – and their message is one we fully support:
“We believe that age needs respect. It needs kindness. Sometimes it needs help. Because there is strength in numbers, Age Concern and Help the Aged have joined forces to become Age UK – so that we can be here for everyone in later life”.

Fact: Did you know that there are more people aged 60 + in the UK today than there are 18 year olds?

Makes you think?

Inspired by the Vitality Ball and the amazing people who attended and supported the event, we’ve decided to take a look at the subject of “age” and will be posting up some thoughts and ideas what it means to us and our families. It would be great to hear what you’ve got to say too – so feel free to join in the conversation, offer some advice or even set yourself up as a ‘later life role model’ by following us on twitter: @wedrive