Chitty Chitty Cannes Cannes!

Construction industry charity the Pagabo Foundation is aiming to raise £40,000 with its first official fundraising event - Chitty Chitty Cannes Cannes - which will see teams taking part in the road trip of the year, travelling from Hull to Cannes.

Setting off from Pagabo’s home city on 6 March, the grand depart will see teams cross the iconic Humber Bridge before winding their way south to cross the Channel into France on day one. The route will then take them on two days through stunning French countryside before crossing the finish line in Cannes, just in time for the start of MIPIM 2020.

The charity, set up by national framework organisation Pagabo, aims to raise the profile and awareness of mental health within the construction industry and will signpost resources to make support and advice as readily available as possible for those working in the industry.

Six members of staff from Pagabo and its partner company Sypro will be taking part in the road trip, alongside some of Pagabo’s key contractors and consultants. 

Jason Stapley, lead for the Pagabo Foundation, said: “We’re very excited for our first big fundraising event, and you can’t get much bigger than a road trip from Hull to the biggest property event in the world. Mental health in the construction sector still remains somewhat of a taboo, so we plan to tackle this and provide support and services for workforces across the industry. We’re planning to raise £40,000 with this event, which we hope will be the first of many.”

Stapley added that the organisation team has worked tirelessly to ensure the fundraising event will be fully carbon neutral. Included within these efforts, he said, the team will be planting enough trees to offset the carbon produced as part of the One Hull of a Forest project.

“We will be using the number of cars travelling and the expected distance to accurately work out the number of trees to be planted to offset any emissions released from cars taking part. It’s really important to us to do all we can to organise this fantastic fundraising event, but not at the cost of our environment,” said Stapley.

“We’ve calculated that if our drivers were to take the same trip via plane it would actually contribute 6.34 tonnes of carbon - two tonnes more than will be generated by the 4,348-mile rally. Considering this year’s MIPIM event is set to see around 23,000 people in attendance it’s clear to see the huge impact this will have on the environment.

“We will be encouraging all those taking part to join us in this effort as we fundraise for a better future regarding mental health in the construction industry, we can simultaneously work together to do our bit for the environment too.”

Click here for further information on Chitty Chitty Cannes Cannes and make a donation to the Pagabo Foundation’s mental health fundraising efforts.