Think of the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking and you invariably imagine the home of the world famous Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 team, the assembly line for the state-of-the-art Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren and the workplace of some of the most cutting-edge technical brains in the country.

But it’s a great spot to go fishing too…

That’s what 13-year-old Liam Fairhurst will be doing on September 2 when he spends an hour as the first person to fish the facility’s famous semi-circular lake, after McLaren Group Chairman and CEO Ron Dennis set him a special charity challenge.

Liam isn’t an experienced angler. In fact, he has never fished before in his life.  But after a dream visit to the Woking facility in July and meeting Ron Dennis Liam was challenged to fish the lake to add to his fundraising efforts for children’s cancer charity CLIC Sargent. 

Over the past 20 months, Liam has raised in excess of £250,000 for the charity – a remarkable achievement especially as Liam has been fighting his own battle with cancer for the past three years.

“Liam has one hour to catch as many fish as he can,” explained Ron. “But only he is permitted to handle the rod and only I can count up the number of fish before they are returned to the lake. Having said that, I’ll let him bring an expert angling coach. In return, I have promised Liam £50 for each fish he catches.”

Liam is looking to raise as much money as he can for CLIC Sargent – but he needs your help.

“If people sponsor me just £1 it will help make a difference,” he said. “CLIC Sargent has been there for my family throughout my treatment. I want to give something back so that they can help other families like mine.”

Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure.  It's also the most efficient way to sponsor me; CLIC Sargent gets your money faster and, if you are a UK tax payer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.

Thank you for supporting me and CLIC Sargent

03/09/08 Thanks to my brilliant fishing instructor (Martin Locke ) we were able to complete our challenge and in the process caught 25 carp!!!  Thankyou to everyone at McLarens who came out to watch me and/or added to my ever growing total on this page and to everyone who has donated. With Ron's money we are nearly up to £3K which will make a huge difference to families like mine and this now takes my grand  fundraising total to just over £278K. I'm back in hospital for chemo this week but wanted you all to know how much I enjoyed yesterday and how it took my mind of hospitals THANKYOU TO ALL OF YOU!!!! xxx 

07/09/08 Outta hospital and in time to watch Lewis win the Belgium Grand Prix, well done team MCLAREN!!! I'm feeling a bit icky but am amazed at all the money and lovely messages on this site. Thankyou everyone not only does this raise my spirits but it makes a huge difference to families affected by cancer! x