North Star cyclist gets in gear for Maggie’s Centre fundraiser

Avid cyclist, Michael Gordon is planning to don lycra on Monday, 5^th June 2023 and cycle 300 miles from Aberdeen to Newcastle in just two days to raise thousands of pounds for Maggie’s Centre facilities at both locations.

Based in the Granite City, Michael is the commercial director at the UK’s leading vessel operator North Star, where he has worked for 12 years. He is aiming to raise £5,000 with the company set to match his final total. He decided to put his passion for pedal power to good use as the Aberdeen-headquartered firm prepares to deliver its first of four hybrid-electric powered renewables vessels to the Dogger Bank Wind Farm partners at Equinor’s O&M base, Port of Tyne in Teesside, from this summer.

He will begin his 300-mile journey at North Star’s headquarters in Aberdeen and finish at the newly opened Dogger Bank O&M facility. The money raised will be shared equally between the cancer support provider’s two centres.

“Maggie’s has world-class facilities in Aberdeen and Newcastle with specialist teams providing essential advice and mental health support to people going through cancer. With teams on the ground in both these areas, these are significant locations for our business, so it made sense for me to choose a local support charity to fundraise for.

“There are around 1,300 personnel at North Star and as with any size of business, we recognise the importance of offering mental health and wellbeing support. For example, our offshore colleagues can be away from home for weeks at a time, which can be difficult, and we work hard to ensure they are looked after, and they know there is help available should they need it.

“A 300-mile solo cycle like this is new territory for me, however, it’s for a great cause and my family, friends and colleagues are 100% behind me. I am proud to demonstrate our focus on supporting the local communities where we operate, and I hope people will be generous with their donations.

“I’m looking forward to arriving in Port of Tyne as I complete the journey, which will be a test ofmy own mental strength and physical ability.”

Established in 1996, Maggie’s has 26centres across the UK as well as three international bases in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Kálida Barcelona. This year, both the Newcastle and the Aberdeen centres celebrate their 10^th anniversary of making a positive impact on people’s lives. During this time, the latter has welcomed and supported more than 72,000visits, delivered more than 5,000 one-to-one psychological sessions, andsecured almost £9million from fundraisers.

Richard Stewart, the fundraising manager at Maggie’s Centre in Aberdeen said: “As a fundraiser it humbles me when supporters step out of their comfort zone and take on incredible sponsored challenges. Michael’s 300-mile solo cycle definitely falls into that category!I want to thank him and his colleagues at North Star for their support and I wish him all the luck he needs to make it to the finish line. We’ll befollowing his progress and willing him on along the way.”

Michael has set up a JustGiving page for donations which can be found here: https://bit.ly/3M5MJ7j

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