1000 miles and £1,000,000 for Sport Relief
Upbeat Event Catering and Design (Upbeat), part of the Global Infusion Group, was started 21 years ago to compliment their sister company Eat To The Beat, the international music and tour catering specialist. Upbeat provide corporate, road-show and high-end private catering services all over the world, with clients ranging from major blue-chip corporations and organisations to international royalty and celebrities.
As part of their 2010 charity campaign, Sport Relief and sponsors BT, held a bike ride from John O´Groats to Land´s End with 7 high profile celebrities. David Walliams, Davina McCall, Fearne Cotton, Jimmy Carr, Miranda Hart, Russell Howard and Patrick Kielty rode in a non-stop relay for nearly 82 hours to complete the mammoth journey through rain, snow and sun. Upbeat were called in to provide high energy meals and refreshments to the 65 strong crew and celebrities. Due to the mobile nature of the event, it was essential to stay one stop ahead of the ride, with food ready and waiting as the team came past, followed by a speedy pack up and a (legally) fast drive on to the next location.
Sport Relief beat their target of £1,000,000 and raised £1,337,099 for the cause, part of the record-breaking £40,605,054 raised in total.
The event lasted 6 days, (2 travel days, 4 ride days). Upbeat used biodegradable disposable tableware supplied by VegWare, a client of sister company e2B Logistics, which not only saved time washing up, but the environmentally friendly plates, cups and boxes allowed Upbeat to recycle the majority of the waste created by catering for the event.
The event was widely covered in national newspapers, television news and by the riders themselves calling in to Radio One´s shows from Chris Moyles´s Breakfast show right through to Scott Mill at drive time. Davina McCall often mentioned just how difficult the task was for the celebrities and how the food and service made it that little bit more bearable.
