How Chapman Taylor supports charities worldwide

This year, Chapman Taylor is sponsoring, and fundraising for, the RIBA ‘Future Architects Pledge’, aimed at supporting the next generation of architects through their studies. The funds raised will go to the RIBA Student Hardship Fund and the RIBA National Schools Programme.

Chapman Taylor’s global studios make a point of fundraising for worthy causes as often as possible. The ways in which we do this vary from taking part in daunting challenges to harnessing creative talent to just having fun. Below are some recent and upcoming examples of our teams giving something back to their communities.

These boots are made for walking

In September 2017, a 30-strong team of Chapman Taylor employees from our London, Manchester and Bristol Studios completed the Yorkshire 3 Peaks Challenge to raise money for their chosen charities, War Child and Wood Street Mission in Manchester. War Child is committed to supporting children who have had their lives torn apart by war, and Wood Street Mission helps alleviate the effects of poverty on local children and their families through practical help.

The 38 km trek up Pen-y-Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough – one after the other and all in one day - was far from easy and was completed by the three teams in times ranging between nine and eleven hours. £1,600 was raised for our chosen charities. In 2016, a 20-strong team climbed Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Mount Snowdon, raising a magnificent £4,000 for the same charities.

This year, our intrepid employees will be tackling the South Wales Three Peaks Trial in support of the RIBA ‘Future Architects Pledge’, aiming to walk over 21 miles in 10 hours on 8 September.

Peddling for pounds

In May 2016, Mike Grace and Mark Doughty from Chapman Taylor’s Manchester studio respectively, set off on a 320-mile bike ride to Amsterdam as part of the British Council of Offices (BCO) Challenge in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust. After a gruelling four-day ride, the two competitors managed to raise £3,000. Mark recalls that: “The last leg proved the toughest, and there were some very hairy moments, but it was very satisfying to reach our target for this very worthwhile charity.

This year, the Manchester studio, represented by Mike Grace, Maciej Augustynowicz and Bob Ballard, will take part in the RIBA Charity Bike Ride on 15 June to raise money for the RIBA Student Hardship Fund – a charity which helps with access to the architectural profession for students from less privileged backgrounds. The 100-mile ride around the Forest of Bowland will be aimed at adding to the £4,000 raised in the previous two years.

Meanwhile, our London studio will be cycling the 70-mile route between London and Oxford on 10 June in aid of Maggie’s Centres. The aim is to raise £500 or more on behalf of the charity, which provides support, resources and activities for cancer patients and their families.

Keep on running

Chapman Taylor’s Bangkok studio participated in a December 2017 charity fundraiser, with some of our athletic employees taking part in a 10K run around the city’s Lumpini Park. Organised by Mandarin Oriental Hotel, one of Chapman Taylor’s regular clients, the annual charity run was held in aid of the Lerdsin Hospital Foundation, the Baan Nokkamin Foundation and scholarships for students on the Oriental Hotel Apprenticeship Programme (OHAP). Participants were up early for a healthy breakfast and group photos, before the starting pistol was fired at 7.30am by the former Minister for Tourism and Sport, Kokbarn Wattanavrangkul. This was Chapman Taylor’s fourth consecutive year taking part.

Every September, Ruprecht Melder from Chapman Taylor’s Dusseldorf studio enrols in the annual Berlin charity run as a member of the German Council of Shopping Centres. Ruprecht and his fellow runners have raised money for diverse causes this way, including homeless people in the city of Hamburg and refugees fleeing war zones in Syria. Matt Barbour, from our London studio, regularly runs for charitable causes, including Macmillan Cancer Support and Parkinsons UK - most recently, he took part in the 2018 London Marathon.

Also annually, employees from Chapman Taylor’s UK studios compete in the JLL Property Triathlon, where teams of three run, swim and cycle for charity. Meanwhile, Rafal Giersz from our Warsaw studio ran in the 2017 PZU Warsaw marathon to raise money for the Synapsis Foundation, a charity for people with autism, and will be doing so again in 2018.

Recycling bottles

The Warsaw studio has been involved in collecting plastic bottles and their cap tops, which they sell to a recycling company to help raise money for two young girls – Basia, who was paralysed after an accident and requires constant care and love, and Poli, who was awaiting heart surgery.

Other initiatives by our UK teams

Our Christmas Jumper Day, in which staff members from our UK studios came to work wearing seasonal jumpers ranging from the festive to the truly hideous, with our London team raising £94 for Save the Children. Our Bristol studio raised a total of £265 from their 2017 ‘Bake-off’, Easter Egg Hunt and Christmas Jumper Day, donating to Save the Children, Help Bristol’s Homeless and the Bansang Hospital Appeal.

Chapman Taylor’s studios regularly hold bake sales, with the budding bakers in our teams putting their culinary skills to the test to create tasty and visually pleasing treats for the whole team to try – raising money for various charities in the process. The 2017 Pancake Day sale was a great success, with £85 raised for Children in Need by our London studio and £69 raised for Forever Manchester by our Manchester studio. A cake sale and raffle held by our London studio in October raised £575 for War Child and Wood Street Mission. We will be holding a World Baking Day bake-off on 24 May in aid of the Architects’ Benevolent Society (ABS), which is marking Mental Health Awareness Week by focusing on the mental health of architectural students.

Several members of Chapman Taylor’s London employees took part in a rubber duck race organised by Merchant Square, Paddington in 2017, racing rubber ducks they bought online against others in aid of the Children of St. Mary’s Intensive Care fund. Our London studio also contributes to the Big Red Box charity, filling boxes with food donations for the King’s Church London Foodbank, and the North Paddington Foodbank.

For more information on the charity work of Chapman Taylor’s studios and employees, please contact:

Kazuyo Matsuda
Senior Architect
kmatsuda@chapmantaylor.com