G F Tomlinson colleagues are donning their hiking boots to complete the Lake District ‘Ultra Challenge’ in June, raising money for the Aortic Dissection Charitable Trust.

Already underway with training, site managers Ed Smith and Phil Laverick will be walking 100km in 24 hours as part of the challenge, crossing the complex terrain of the Lake District on the 8^th and 9^th of June.

The Midlands contractor announced the Aortic Dissection Charitable Trust as its chosen charity of the year back in January and alongside the Ultra Challenge, G F Tomlinson will be hosting a variety of events over the next 12 months to raise further funds for the trust’s research.

Aortic Dissection is a serious heart condition caused by a partial tear in the wall of the aorta, which prevents blood supply and can lead to the rupturing of organs.

Seventy people are diagnosed with the condition each week in the UK and Ireland with only an average survival rate of 50%.

The trust aims to help raise awareness and funding for research into early detection, supporting prevention, treatment, and cures for the condition, which if diagnosed and treated in time, can have an 80% survival rate.

Senior site manager, Phil Laverick, said: “While this Ultra Challenge is going to be a mammoth undertaking, it is a fantastic opportunity to raise awareness for the Aortic Dissection Charitable Trust.

“Ed and I are currently training hard for this event and adding up the blisters by the week. We look forward to the 8^th June and thank you for your support.”

Patron of the Aortic Dissection Charitable Trust, Pauline Latham, said: “I would like to thank G F Tomlinson for their fundraising efforts on behalf of the Aortic Dissection Charitable Trust. This fundraising will help the trust to develop further research to improve diagnosis and save lives, as well as to raise awareness of this little-known condition.

“G F Tomlinson’s have already done so much for this cause, and once again, I am very grateful for their support.” 

Chairman of G F Tomlinson, Andy Sewards, said: “We are delighted to be supporting the Aortic Dissection Charitable Trust as our chosen charity for 2024. When Patron, Pauline Latham contacted back in January, we were only too happy to get involved and help create a greater awareness of this serious medical condition, to improve prevention, diagnosis, treatment and ultimately, survival rates for over 3,500 sufferers every year.

“As well as the sterling efforts of Ed and Phil, the Company have an extensive programme of fundraising events organized throughout the year including a charity quiz night, raffle, and staff sporting events.” 

You can support Ed and Phil’s efforts to raise money for the Aortic Dissection Charitable Trust here.

Melbourne-based Acres Engineering, best known for its work in the aerospace, rail and automotive industries, has a new niche, after teaming up with much loved entertainer Johnny Vegas for his new exhibition at Liverpool’s Walker Art Gallery.

Vegas has collaborated with the esteemed Wirral artist Emma Rodgers on a joint exhibition titled “Metamorphosis,” an apt title given Johnny graduated in art and ceramics at the University of Middlesex three decades ago.

Indeed, he calls this “my rebirth.”

Both artists have presented two-dimensional pieces as well as sculptures in bronze, clay, and 3D printing, all unified by the theme of flight.

One of Johnny’s artworks featured angels perched on metal RSJs, which provided a contrasting finish that completed the display.

However, the RSJs were too heavy, so after Emma suggested they could mix sculptural materials Johnny reached out to Acres to create replicas of the RSJs from a thinner, lighter material, with the condition that they retained the same industrial appearance as the original pieces.

Johnny visited Acres on two occasions to communicate his requirements and after a number of variants testing out different thickness of material, the perfect balance of weight vs aesthetics vs functionality was found.

Johnny even joined in with the team during the final manufacture.

Luke Parker, Managing Director at Acres Engineering, said: “We are proud that Johnny selected Acres to work with on this important project so close to his heart. Johnny was really impressed with our facilities, our craftsmanship and most importantly our team.

“It was great to see him getting so involved and engaged but he’s a born entertainer as well as an incredibly talented artist so we had a tonne of fun along the way. We look forward to working with Johnny in the future on bigger projects – watch this space!”

Johnny’s work draws massively from his experiences of living with ADHD which he describes as an “accursed blessing,” with concepts of flight, faith, and fear of failure prominent.

As he put the finishing touches to the display at The Walker, Vegas was understandably proud and a little emotional: “I think I’m going to cry…but they’ll be good tears.

“I’m living my best life right now and I can’t tell you what it means to be exhibiting here at The Walker. I want to give a massive shout to Luke and the team at Acres. They’re a family firm and that means a lot to me, I wish my dad (Laurence Pennington, who died from cancer in 2017) could walk in here with me and see this.

“He used to get grief when I was at art school because ‘your lad’s doing pottery’ but he had a deep appreciation for anything creative, and for breaking free from social expectations. He would have absolutely loved it.

“I hope to be able to nip down to Acres with Emma to show her the range of tech and skills the team has because they’ve helped to make this possible after Emma’s bright idea to mix sculptural materials – see you soon team!”

A Derbyshire charity providing clean water filtration systems saving lives in some of the world’s most disaster-hit places has officially cut the ribbon on a new assembly room which will double production from 3,000 to 6,000 water filters a year.

Outgoing High Sheriff Theresa Peltier did the honours at Wirksworth-based Aquabox, officially opening its ‘Aquaboost’ project which is seeing its team of committed volunteers vastly scale up production.

The charity makes filtration systems that it then distributes to the world’s most troubled areas, where the impact of disaster or conflict means people lack the basic human need of clean water.

Originally established by Wirksworth Rotary Club in 1992, Aquabox has sent more than 125,000 aid boxes to more than 50 countries around the world, converting an estimated two billion litres of contaminated water so that it is clean and safe to drink.

Now the charity has been kitted out with a brand new assembly room and has also transformed its processes through the Lean Sigma manufacturing programme, made famous by Toyota.

The new room and systems now mean that the charity can make twice as many Aquabox family filters, benefiting many more thousands of people around the world.

Theresa, who has now handed over her High Sheriff duties to Ian Morgan OBE, said she had been blown away by the new production facilities at Aquabox and it had been a privilege to officially open them.

She said: “This is an incredible charity right here in the heart of Derbyshire and I’m delighted to have been able to visit during my year of being High Sheriff. The work that these committed volunteers at Aquabox are doing every day to provide clean water in some of the most war-torn parts of the world is simply mind-blowing.”

During Theresa’s visit, she participated in a phone call between charity trustee Cheryle Berry with a member of the Rotary Club in Ukraine who is distributing Aquabox systems there. Cheryle, who is chair of the Children in Ukraine sub group for Rotary Great Britain, was talking to Serhiy Zavadsky who leads the Rotary team in Ukraine, along with Yulia Pavichenko, who chairs the Rotary Club’s Children’s Group in Ukraine.

Theresa said: “It was very emotional for me to be able to take part in Cheryle’s phone call with Rotary Club members in Ukraine, and see first-hand the impact that this charity’s work is having.

“I was so impressed by their Aquaboost project to double production from 3,000 filtration systems a year to a massive 6,000. I wish them all the very best.”

Over the years Aquabox has been sending filtration systems to over 50 countries including Nepal, Syria, Ukraine and Turkey, responding to natural disasters such as earthquakes, or areas beset by conflict where people are desperate for humanitarian aid.

Its Aqua-aid boxes contain a family water filter, plus 40 items like tools, lighting, survival aids, cooking equipment, educational aids and hygiene provisions, carefully chosen through negotiation with the charity’s partners in refugee camps and disaster areas.

The charity supplies two types of filtration system: a family filter, which cleans water at a rate of a litre a minute and is assembled here in Wirksworth, and a community filter which uses the same technology but scaled up to meet the needs of more people.

The new systems implemented through the Aquaboost project means volunteers in Wirksworth – who range in age from people in their 40s to their 90s – can make a family water filter in 16 minutes.

Aquabox trustee Dominic Wish said: “We are excited by our Aquaboost project which is allowing us to scale up our life-saving work by a huge degree.

“We are almost entirely run by volunteers and myself and colleagues are delighted to use our background in engineering and other industries to be working on such a valuable charity that has a simple aim: providing clean water to people in the world who really need it. We are all human beings and we all need water. We will continue our work to provide it.”

Fellow trustee Rob Barlow said: “Many thanks to Theresa Peltier for doing us the honour of opening our new Aquaboost assembly room. It was brilliant that she took time out to visit our charity and we are very proud to be able to show off our new system and production area.

“It will be making a very significant difference to people around the world who are going through appalling situations. It is saving lives and we are looking forward to the next chapter for Aquabox.”

Aquabox would like to thank the following organisations for providing help with the Aquaboost project: Forged Solutions Ltd, of Darley Dale; Pratt and Whitney; ITP Aero of Hucknall; Compressors Ltd of Alfreton; Desoutter UK Ltd and Premier Precision Engineering of Chesterfield.