Nigel Toplis, managing director of the Bardon Group that includes the franchise brands Recognition Express and ComputerXplorers and Recognition Express franchisee Russell Golding have just returned from a 10 day charity mountain trek up Mount Kilimanjaro where they were part of a five man WellChild charity team raising over £30,000.

“It was by far the most mentally and physically challenging thing I have every done,” said Nigel. “Towards the end we were running on zero reserves but we pushed on, determined to complete the task.”

Russell Golding owns Recognition Express franchises for Cambridge and the Home Counties. He has completed the London Marathon and the Great North Run but agrees with Nigel that Kilamanjaro was the hardest. “I had a personal trainer to help me get fit for the challenge but nothing could have prepared me for the reality. It was very tough but the trip of a lifetime.”

For Nigel this was the second time he has pushed his own comfort zones in aid of children’s charities. Seven years ago he raised over £20,000 for WellChild’s ‘Why My Child’ appeal researching children’s diseases at Birmingham Hospital by cycling 360 kilometres round Cuba.

WellChild helps sick children and their families throughout the UK as they deal with the consequences of serious illness and complex conditions. The organisation’s mission is to reach as many children and young people as possible through focusing on care, support and research.

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