The winner of the Mountain Warehouse Charity Challenge competition, Theodoros Michaelides, visited our Guildford store on Friday to receive his £5,000 charity donation.
Left to right: Jenny Hawkins, Theodoros Michaelides, Laura Grainger, Mark Neale, Martin Harrington
The donation will pay for 100 hours of physiotherapy for four year old cerebral palsy sufferer Charlie Grainger who is recovering from life-changing surgery to help him walk.
Theodoros, a holistic massage therapist from nearby Camberley, brought his family along for the giant cheque presentation. Son Leonardo was on hand to help the photographers snap away!
Mini-Photographer!
The Michaelides family were joined by Charlie’s mother Laura Grainger, Jenny Hawkins from the Tree of Hope Charity, Guildford store manager Martin Harrington and Mountain Warehouse Managing Director Mark Neale.
Theodoros was thrilled to win the competition which saw over 600 challengers enter. “Who would have thought two months ago I would be standing in a Mountain Warehouse store in Guildford receiving the winner’s cheque?!” he said.
The story began after Theodoros met the Grainger family at his practice and instantly felt a connection to Charlie’s story. Theodoros decided to take on the London to Brighton Night Ride to raise money to help Charlie walk and found out about the Mountain Warehouse Charity Challenge after signing up through Just Giving.
Throughout the Charity Challenge Charlie’s supporters came from all over the world to vote in the competition. The Grainers created a website devoted to rallying votes for Charlie and found visitors offering support from over 100 countries!