More than £2,500 has been raised for local charity Befriend a Child after corporate teams took to the dance floor in the ActivityMix Corporate Decathlon, Dance the World event, sponsored by CNR International.
The event which took place at Aberdeen’s Beach Ballroom recently saw more than 200 individuals from 26 oil and gas companies from across Aberdeen take to the dance floor in a Strictly Come Dancing-like experience. More than 400 people each night were entertained with Broadway, Charleston, Strathspey Highland Reel and Bollywood routines.
Shell proved to be victorious in League 1 with TAQA as runners up and CNR International in third place. In League 2 PwC danced their way to the top, followed by Anderson, Anderson and Brown and Atkins in third place.
Speaking of the event David Whitehouse, vice president, production and operations, CNR International said:
“CNR International were delighted to sponsor this exciting dance event for the third year running. A real highlight of the Corporate Decathlon calendar, the amount of hard work the participants put into each step is evident from the minute they take the floor.”
Organiser’s ActivityMix worked with Aberdeen Academy of Performing Arts instructors to deliver 10 weeks of training prior to the event. For the second year, the nominated event charity, Befriend a Child worked with both ActivityMix and CNR International to raise money and awareness of the charity over the course of the competition.
Duncan Peter, development and resources manager, Befriend a Child said: “This was the second consecutive year that we were fortunate enough to be the charity beneficiary of the Dance the World event and once again it was a tremendous success with over £1,300 being raised from the raffle across the weekend, a £700 donation from the event sponsors CNR International brought the total on the nights to £2,000 and the team representing Stork on the Saturday night collected an additional £757 in sponsorship for their dancers.
“As well as the financial benefit, the event again provided us an excellent opportunity to promote our work to all the companies involved in the Corporate Decathlon and increase awareness of the vital service we provide to vulnerable and underprivileged children here in Aberdeen.”
Amanda Inglis, Business Development Manager of ActivityMix said: “We aim to create sustainable impact by linking the business community with local charities and sports clubs; so we are pleased that CNR International and Befriend a Child were involved again and that the wider Corporate Decathlon community have come together to raise money for the charity. Aberdeen Academy of Performing Arts have introduced dance to a whole new set of individuals who had never tried it before; after 10 weeks of training it’s amazing to see the confidence and new skills they’ve learnt.
“We believe that sport provides a framework to engage, retain, motivate and reward staff and Dance the World proved to be a fantastic event; the teams all showed true skill, commitment and great sportsmanship.”
The remaining events in the Corporate Decathlon 2014 are the Team Health Challenge, Highland Games, Touch Rugby, Adventure Running, Dragon Boat Racing sponsored by Baker Hughes, Lawn Bowls and Swimming sponsored by Senergy.