Vapour boss Tim Mercer has signed up for his toughest fundraiser yet, all in aid of the premature birth charity, Borne.
On 19 May, our CEO will don his boxing gloves and step into the ring for the CRN Fight Night, at The Brewery in London.
A sell out industry event that has raised £220,000 for charity since the contests began in 2008, this is Tim’s first time up against an opponent.
Aware the selection process is notoriously tough, he applied to fight at the start of 2022, before being invited for a nerve-racking assessment. He was one of only 16 UK tech professionals selected, and all eyes are now on the black-tie event to see if Tim ‘No Mercy’ Mercer can bring home the title.
Fighting for the blue team, he will face Paul O’Sullivan, UK sales director at Threatscape, in the red corner.
Travelling to the Ring Boxing Club in Southwark, South London, every week for training, Tim had already upped his fitness regime last year, in preparation for his ‘week of hell’. That particular challenge - which saw him row, cycle, run and climb 286km - was one of his first major fundraisers for Borne back in October.
Since then, he and the Vapour team have raised £8,500 for the charity - and counting - with hopes that Fight Night will get them to £15,000. The ultimate goal is to reach £23,000 before the year is out.
Commenting on his latest challenge, Tim said: “I’m a big boxing fan, so when I saw the application process open for Fight Night, I thought - why not?!
“But when the news dropped that I’d made the lineup, s**t got real!
“There’s a difference between sparring and going toe to toe with an opponent - as I’ve already learned. But I’m tackling this event just as I would anything else - properly! I’m training hard, eating really well, and improving my technique week by week. I’ve got a table of supporters coming to cheer me on but I hope people will get behind me from a distance too, and dig deep for Borne.”
Over 15 million babies are born too soon every year, and 1 million of those die. Borne is a charity dedicated to saving lives, preventing disability, and creating lifelong health for mothers and babies. Anyone wishing to sponsor Tim can donate via Vapour’s JustGiving page.
Vapour CEO, Tim Mercer, has today embarked on a gruelling 286km challenge in aid of the charity Borne.
The five-day feat will see Tim complete 13km of runs, 20km of rowing and 211km of cycling, as well as the 42km Yorkshire Three Peaks climb in only eight hours!
The bold quest has been shaped to raise money for the charity that helps prevent premature birth. It forms the latest in a series of events organised by the Vapour team, as colleagues collectively strive to hit their £23,000 target, before the middle of next year.
When Tim first signed up for this mammoth challenge, he actually expected to be heading to the Caribbean Sea, to make his way west across Costa Rica on foot, bike, kayak and raft.
His original adventure – which was billed as testing the limits of participants’ physical and mental endurance – would have seen him traverse remote jungle routes, reach heights of up to 3000m, and pass coffee and sugar cane plantations, before reaching the Pacific Ocean.
But while Covid-19 put a halt to these once-in-a-lifetime plans, he was determined the pandemic would not impact on his fundraising. So, he’s swapping the jungle for the gym, and tackling most of his 286km at Reform – the on-site facility at our Huddersfield HQ.
“When I first signed up for the Costa Rica coast to coast expedition – which would have seen me tackle the 286km with the likes of Will Greenwood MBE – I knew it was going to be tough. But if it was easy, why would people sponsor me?” said Tim.
“I don’t like to do anything half-heartedly. I’ve been training for months and didn’t want the planning and effort to go to waste. So, I put my thinking cap on, and have planned my own version of the challenge, which matches the Costa Rica itinerary as closely as possible – just with slightly different scenery!
“I really hope people will dig deep and support me, whether they donate to the JustGiving page or turn up to run a few kilometres alongside me!”
To support Tim, you can donate via JustGiving and follow his progress on social media – #RaiseWithVapour on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
Only a matter of days after Vapour’s new annual charity campaign was revealed, CEO Tim Mercer has already announced the first of his fundraising quests for Borne. And he’s appealing to business owners, innovation heads, CTOs and IT leaders for support.
Over the next six months, Tim will donate up to 24 days of his time to deliver digital transformation sessions for organisations large and small. Covering topics ranging from secure hybrid working infrastructures and debunking the misconceptions associated with SD-WAN, to robotic process automation for companies regardless of size, Vapour will not earn a penny from these consultations.
But in return for his expertise, Tim will be asking the firms to donate £250 for a three-hour session, or £500 for a seven-hour session. And 100% of the monies raised, will go towards raising £23,000 for the charity committed to preventing premature birth.
“When we unveiled our chosen charity for 2021-22, last week, we made a start on drumming up funds the very same day with a staff auction,” said Tim. “And the team was brimming with ideas to climb mountains, clock up the miles, get quizzing and hold bake off style competitions. But reaching our colossal £23,000 target will be a feat in itself. So, it’s important we think of as many ideas as possible.
“As organisations have undergone more workplace change in the past 12 months than they ordinarily would in a 5-10 year period, I thought that the donation of my time, industry knowledge and advice could help fire up our fundraising efforts, while also benefitting the organisations I talk to. I’m willing to cover any topic from our toolkit, or any solution that we currently highlight on our website. So, I look forward to discovering what I’ll be tasked with, and hope to see the coffers filling up.”
To discuss potential dates and topics for one of the consultations, please email gs@vapourcloud.com.
Want to donate? Check out our JustGiving fundraising page.
Follow Vapour on social media to watch the team’s fundraising efforts unfold:
Every year, Vapour pledges to fundraise for a worthy cause. So, for the next 12 months, the company will dig deep for the charity committed to preventing premature birth – Borne.
And all sights are set on the boldest target yet – a staggering £23,000!
From sponsored treks to corporate auctions, the team will leave no stone unturned on the mission to fill the coffers. In fact, a jam-packed agenda of activities will be revealed as the weeks unfold, with something for every single colleague to get involved in.
“Ever since the company was founded, we’ve been determined to exist for far more than commercial gain,” explains CEO Tim Mercer. “And over the years, we’ve learnt that giving back isn’t just the right thing to do – it brings us together as a team too.
“That’s why some of our fundraising efforts will centre on pushing ourselves and taking on personal challenges or feats of endurance. At the other end of the scale, we’ve also come up with ideas that are, quite frankly, pretty daft, so we can have fun at the same time as doing something good.”
Reflecting on the reasons for choosing Borne – an organisation dedicated to saving lives, preventing disability, and creating lifelong health for mothers and babies – Tim adds: “Our families are what we seek to protect the most, and with premature birth an ongoing problem that nobody understands, there seemed no better cause.
“It is the leading reason for childhood mortality in the world today. More significant than infection, trauma or cancer, it affects some 15 million babies across the world every year – including nearly 60,000 in the UK. So, we want to do our bit to help stop babies being born too soon. And we hope we can drum up a fair amount of support for our varied efforts.”
Want to donate? Check out our JustGiving fundraising page.
Follow Vapour on social media to watch the team’s fundraising efforts unfold:
