Fairgrove Partners raises £1,000 for FirstLight Trust

Consultants from Fairgrove Partners have raised more than £1,000 for a UK military charity. The consultants’ made the contribution off the back of a 30-kilometre trek across Exmoor in October.

The annual Soldier 30:30 event sees teams compete to carry 30lb backpacks over 30 kilometres, of either Exmoor or the Midlands, while committing to raise money for the benefit of military charities. Each year, the event seeks both civilian and military teams to test themselves against both terrain and weather, in a timed race through 6-12 manned checkpoints.

While those with a background in the armed forces are typically the most successful competitors in the event, Soldier 30:30 also regularly features teams of office workers taking to the hills. This year, consultants from Fairgrove Partners were among that cohort.

Founded in 2013, Fairgrove Partners is a strategic advisory firm, serving corporations, private equity funds and their portfolio companies, and the family offices of high-net-worth individuals. Based in London, the company serves clients in the UK, US, China and Japan.

Fairgrove Partners took on the challenge in Exmoor, in support of veterans in the UK armed forces. The Fairgrove team consisted of Oli Lestner, Chris Anguelov, William Slynn, Henry Biddlecombe, Calvin Kong and Nikhil Chavda – each of whom carried 30lbs over 30kms, across land and water in poor visibility.

While an ominous post from the firm on its fundraising page announcing the team’s commitment ended with “what could possibly go wrong?” the Fairgrove Partners representatives were successful in the end. Their efforts saw them raise a £1,172 donation to FirstLight Trust, a charity that provides counselling and support to veterans of the armed forces and emergency services workers.

Another LinkedIn update from the firm noted, “We are pleased that [the team] successfully completed the Soldier 30:30 Exmoor race, a cross-country time-trial organised to raise money for veterans' charity FirstLight Trust for Veterans. Setting off at 4am and guided only by the light of their headtorches, the team trekked across 30km of marshland, crossed rivers, and climbed steep hills while each carrying 30lbs to cross the finish line in just over nine hours.”