Insight Executive Group is proud as punch to share the news that three members of our team have secured places on the 2023 London Marathon, taking place in April.

Procurement & Commercial Management Director, Andrew Pyman; Public Sector Property & FM Principal Consultant, Harry Allen; and Procurement & Commercial Management Practice Lead, Taj Singh will all be pounding the pavement for 26.2 miles on behalf of their chosen charities this spring.

In keeping with Insight’s charitable commitments, they will all be doing so for charities close to their hearts:

• Andrew is running to raise funds for the Royal Society for Blind Children
• Harry is running for Brain Research UK
• Taj is running for Lymphoma Action

Andrew Pyman –

Today there are an estimated 44,000 blind and partially sighted children in England and Wales. Each day, four more children will be diagnosed with sight loss. At current rates, 90% of these children will never have a long-term job and two thirds will live on or below the poverty line.

RSBC help blind children to realise their potential. They run a family support service, working with families to help provide the best possible environment for their child to grow and thrive. They also help blind children to develop confidence and independence through a range of programmes and activities.

For Andrew this is something that the recruitment industry as a whole has to aim to change:

“I was shocked by the incredibly low employment rate of blind people when I spoke with Kevin McNulty from RSBC. As an industry we are constantly striving for more diverse shortlists but to hear that so many blind people are out of work and living in poverty was massively disappointing.”

The RSBC offices are located in The Northern and Shell Building, and so is Insight Executive Group; add to this that The London Marathon route takes the 40,000 runners past the front door of Northern and Shell, and for Andrew, this felt like the ultimate coincidence to help him decide which charity to support.

As well as wanting to raise a good sum of money, Andrew is determined to increase awareness of the disheartening statistics he has learned as far and wide as possible – as with awareness these stats can be changed. He is especially keen to reach out to recruitment professionals, with the hope of bringing about change and a better future for blind children. Andrew’s target of £2,500 will help RSBC to support 5 children living with sight loss for a whole year.

Harry Allen –

Before Harry worked in recruitment, he had a career as a professional rugby player. After a highly successful time on the pitch, playing for high-profile teams, Harry was forced to retire early because of a severe concussion. As a result, Harry is supporting Brain Research UK with the aim of helping many of his former teammates as well as the current and future crop of professionals.

“The culture in rugby and other professional sports in this country is beginning to change. When I was playing there was very much a ‘man-up’ mentality when it came to injuries. This has led to careers cut short as well as lasting negative mental and physical impacts on people’s lives.”

Says Harry,

“I’m hoping to raise money to support Brain Research UK’s work which will hopefully influence top-level sport to continue moving in the right direction in prioritising player careers with stricter protocols around head injuries.”

Concussion rates in elite rugby during the 2020-21 season hit the highest levels since records began with an average of 22.2 concussions per 1,000 hours. The bigger picture is that one-fifth of all UK deaths are connected to neurological conditions with them being a leading cause of disability. Brain Research UK have been able to fund the best science for over 50 years to achieve the greatest impact for people affected by neurological conditions, to help them live better, longer.

Taj Singh –

Taj will be running in memory of his mother who he sadly lost suddenly to non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2019.

Lymphoma Action is the UK’s only charity dedicated to lymphoma, the fifth most common type of cancer, with someone being diagnosed in the UK every 27 minutes (around 19,500 people every year) – meaning around 125,000 people in the UK are currently living with lymphoma.

Lymphoma Action have been providing in-depth, expert information and wide-ranging support for over 30 years, helping thousands of people affected by lymphoma, with their work driving improvements in the diagnosis, treatment, and aftercare of the disease.

The grueling training has already started, with all three runners currently heading out in freezing conditions in aid of the charities close to their hearts. If you would like to show your support and encouragement, and donate to these worthwhile causes, please click on the links below:

Please join us in wishing all entrants currently training for marathon season (in the freezing cold) the very best of luck from your IEG team and trusted networks.