IF you are looking for inspiration, ambition, fortitude, hope and positivity, then a muddy patch of grass next to a multi-storey car park on a chilly Monday morning in January is a strange place to find it.
But I found all that and more at the ground-breaking event for the new Maggie’s Yorkshire cancer centre at St James’ Hospital in Leeds this week.
I’m lucky to be on the campaign board helping raise the money for the new centre, which will help and support cancer sufferers and their families.
Led by Martin Jenkins, the former head of Deloitte in Yorkshire and the North East who has recently joined vehicle leasing business Zenith, the fundraising has already reached over £5m towards a target of £6m,
Work began this week on building the centre, a beautifully designed building by renowned architects Heatherwick Studio.
How this oasis of support, calm and warmth will be wedged into the sloping grassy triangle in front of the hospital’s Bexley cancer wing will be a triumph of design and engineering acumen.
As much as Maggie’s Yorkshire will look good, it is the support it will provide that will be its biggest triumph.
My role at the ground-breaking ceremony was to introduce the key speakers, including Martin and Linda Pollard CBE, chair of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust – who greeted me with the words” “Hello trouble!”
Also speaking at the event were Rebeca Ramos from Heatherwick Studio, who told the audience how the firm had developed its vision for Maggie’s Yorkshire.
The building, she said, had been designed so it felt like it was giving visitors a big hug when they walked up to it.
After the ground-breaking ceremony guests gathered in the Bexley Wing at Jimmy’s hospital and I told them the hard hats we all had to wear had played havoc with my hairdo.
Among the guests was Dr Terry Bramall CBE, whose family trust has made a significant donation to enable Maggie’s Yorkshire to be built.
I first met Terry when he ran Doncaster-based construction business, Keepmoat, which he later sold for more than £800m and has since bought Doncaster Rovers and built a striking house in Harrogate that wouldn’t look out of place in Beverly Hills.
But as Terry, who is the current High Sheriff of West Yorkshire, told the audience, nothing has been more satisfying than creating a family trust with his wife Liz and their daughters to support a wide range of charitable causes.
An adviser to the trust is former KPMG dealmaker Tony Sharp.
Also at the event was Garry Wilson, founder of private equity firm Endless, who has made a significant donation to Maggie’s Yorkshire.
A number of the high profile and inspirational Ambassadors for Maggie’s Yorkshire who attended the ground-breaking ceremony were Yorkshire Rows, the four incredible women who rowed the Atlantic – Frances Davies, Janette Benaddi, Helen Butters and Niki Doeg.
Joining them was the newest Maggie’s Yorkshire Ambassador, Tevor Cherry, the former England, Leeds United and Huddersfield Town captain.
Quietly spoken and charming, Trevor is the polar opposite to the brashness and excess that is modern football.
One of the biggest supporters of Maggie’s Yorkshire is Harriet Dow, a Yorkshire mum diagnosed with incurable cancer who articulated what such a centre will mean to her and thousands of other people suffering from cancer.
It would be easy for Harriet to play the emotional card and reduce her audience to tears but she doesn’t.
With a wit and intelligence and indefatigable approach to life, she told guests what the support of a Maggie’s Centre will mean to people with cancer and their families.
Harriet spoke at our Big Ticket event last year and when I offered her a drink, I expected her to ask for a glass of water.
“Can I have a gin and tonic please,” she said, and her and her friend proceeded to knock back G&Ts for the rest of the evening.
When I reminded her of that this week she told me: “We had a great night. We even plotted a trip to Ibiza. It was only when I woke up the next morning I realised I probably couldn’t go!”
I’ve invited Harriet to this year’s Big Ticket at The Wardrobe in Leeds on Thursday, February 1st and must make sure the venue has plenty of gin ordered.
After the event I chatted to a couple from Wakefield who currently make the journey to the Maggie’s centre in Manchester.
The husband told me how much difference it would make to them if they only had to travel to a Maggie’s in Leeds for his wife, who has cancer, to get support.
He then burst into tears while she looked stoic and comforted him.
Words are my business, but at that point had none to offer.
But fortunately those at a Maggie’s Centre can and do and that is why the opening of Maggie’s Yorkshire next year can’t come soon enough.
Photo courtesy of Yorkshire Post Newspapers.
Picture James Hardisty.
Maggie’s Yorkshire Ground Breaking Ceremony held at St James’s Hospital, Leeds. Pictured Linda Pollard CBE, (Chair of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust), David Firth, (Contract Manager at Sir Robert McAlpine), Mrs Harriet Dow, Dr Terry Bramall CBE, Martin Jenkins (Chairman of Maggie’s Yorkshire Campaign Board), and James Price, (Project Manager, at Sir Robert McAlpine), looking on supporters of Maggie’s.
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The Big Ticket will celebrate the Yorkshire corporate finance and business community and raise a lot of money for the amazing Maggie’s charity.
The response from the region’s dealmakers has been fantastic and we are expecting more than 200 people at the event at The Wardrobe, including private equity investors from firms in London and Manchester.
If you haven’t bought tickets yet there is still time.
What a great way to blow away the winter blues – meeting old and new contacts, supporting a wonderful charity while enjoying a great band, street food and a well stocked bar.
More details below or drop me a line if you’d like some tickets.
BORIS Johnson proposed a bridge across the English Channel linking the UK with France during President Macron’s visit to this country last week.
However the Foreign Secretary’s idea didn’t stand up to scrutiny and was dismissed pretty sharpish.
To be fair to Boris, he has to be praised for his consistency, it looks like he gave his bridge about as much thought as he gave Brexit.
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ONE of the most creative and connected people I know is Jonny Hick.
Best known as the founder of Directorbank, which specialised in providing executives to private equity backed businesses, Jonny has enjoyed about 10 careers – in marketing, advertising, as a publican, public speaker, writer, investor and mentor.
He was born to be a flamboyant entrepreneur and once opened the world’s first drive-thru fish and chip shop which had to close because it caused traffic jams in Hull.
Even the most talented people face challenges and life has thrown a few Jonny’s way in recent years.
That creative spark hasn’t been visible for a while, which is why I was delighted to see his involvement with a Yorkshire restaurant.
Ian and Anne Courmont, owners of Burgers & More on King’s Road, Harrogate, were chatting to the entrepreneur about restaurants in the 1970s.
“We talked about the Berni Inns of our childhood” said Ian, “and menus such as prawn cocktail, chicken in a basket and black forest gateau. All of a sudden Jonny said – ‘Whatever happened to the Knickerbocker Glory?’ We all licked our lips with joy and I there and then decided to recreate the Knickerbocker with a modern twist”.
Working with Vanilli’s ice cream of Harrogate, Ian has indeed created a modern version, aimed at an adult audience with memories of the Knickerbocker from childhood.
Not surprisingly for a creation from bon viveur Jonny, it contains alcoholic jelly (Harrogate Rum, Slingsby Vodka, mango and cherries), cream, double raspberry ice cream (with ripple), Chambord, vanilla ice cream topped with Curacao, mango and passion fruit ice cream with Passoa – all topped with squirty cream, hundreds and thousands, wafers and a glazed cherry on the summit.
Jonny, who has started 16 businesses from scratch and appeared on ITV’s Secret Millionaire programme (the only secret was that he wasn’t a millionaire), was offered a credit for the creation on the menu and proposed it be named the ‘Hickerbocker’ Glory!
It is only the revival of a retro dessert but it is a sign that the creative juices are flowing again in Jonny Hick, a talented, kind and generous man who I am very fortunate to know.
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SITTING having coffee in the stylish mezzanine lounge of Platform, the building next to Leeds station where I’ve recently taken an office, I heard a bloke speaking loudly into his mobile phone.
“Have we got an email address for…,” he said, mentioning the name of a well known property agent.
“Let’s invite him to the event. Have we got a compere yet?”
My ears pricked up. Here was a chance to offer my services for his event.
But they were instantly dashed when he said: “Can you book Billy Pearce then.”
I can’t compete with the toothy, spiky haired panto favourite.
I’m more your Duncan Norvelle.
Well, without the chasing.
My knees aren’t up to it any more.
Have a great weekend.