Air conditioning installation specialist Coolair Equipment is celebrating after winning a top national award for charity fundraising.

The company, which has offices in Manchester, the Midlands and Kent, raised than £90,000 from a year-long campaign for Challenge Cancer UK which included a 300-mile cycle ride through South East Asia.

The charity presented Coolair with its first-ever Outstanding Contribution Award in appreciation of the biggest donation from any business it had ever worked with.

Regional director Neil Gibbard, who organised the campaign, received the glass star trophy from Challenge Cancer UK founder Mark Roberts on behalf of the company. He was also made a corporate ambassador for the charity.

Coolair teamed up with one of its biggest suppliers and business partners, Mitsubishi Electric Air Conditioning Systems, to recruit and lead a team of 18 staff and customers on an epic six-day bike ride from Saigon in Vietnam to Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

Other events included a ball at Aston Wood Golf Club in Sutton Coldfield with Mark Roberts as a speaker and a sporting dinner at Moxhull Hall Hotel also in Sutton in the company of former England footballer Paul Merson.

Coolair staff chose Challenge Cancer UK as the adopted charity for its 35th anniversary year after it was moved to learn that it distributes its funds to cancer charities throughout the journey of cancer from awareness and prevention to research and respite.

Managing director John Otterson said: “I was very proud of our staff who in only 12 months achieved this amazing sum which was way beyond our expectations.”

Mark Roberts said: “Neil and his team at Coolair, along with their staff and customers, have been fantastic throughout our year of association and the huge amount of money they raised will go a long way to making a real difference to the lives of others.”

www.challengecanceruk.org

Pictured above: Coolair regional director Neil Gibbard (right) receives the Outstanding Contribution Award from Challenge Cancer UK founder Mark Roberts at Coolair’s Manchester office