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After a couple of Carlyle London employees reported back from an enjoyable and rewarding weekend participating in the 2009 Blenheim Triathlon, the gauntlet was laid down and the number of Carlyle participants for the 2010 event grew rapidly. ‘Team Carlyle’ is now comprised of 8 of us from the London office who will do battle over the weekend of 5^th and 6^th of June, no doubt amidst a spirit of healthy competition, and we would very much appreciate your help in the form of sponsorship.

Back in December, several members of Team Carlyle went to visit Naomi House Children’s Hospice, near Winchester. Naomi House is a charity that provides support to children and young people with conditions that mean they are unlikely to live to become adults, providing palliative care, including respite, terminal and bereavement care and support to children and their families in a homely environment.

The care and support provided by Naomi House to children and their families was inspiring and we were lucky enough to tour the new jacksplace facility before its official opening earlier this year. Jacksplace extends the services offered by Naomi House with facilities specifically designed for teenagers and young adults, and is the only facility of its kind in the South of England. Despite the difficult circumstances in which children and families need to make use of Naomi House and jacksplace, the atmosphere was uplifting and full of hope. It was abundantly clear to all of us that this is a very deserving cause and the work that the staff and volunteers of Naomi House put into the running of the facility deserves our full support. You can find out more about Naomi House by visiting www.naomihouse.org.uk

It costs around £4.5million a year to run the two units, with the charity receiving just 7% of its funding from the Department of Health. This means that more than £4million each year needs to be raised by people and businesses through charitable donations, and accordingly we have chosen to support Naomi House as our chosen charity for the 2010 Blenheim Triathlon.

Each of us is taking part separately in the Triathlon (no half-measure relays for us!) with some competing on Saturday 5^th June and some on Sunday 6^th June. The triathlon comprises a 750m lake swim, 20km bike ride and a 5km run. You can see photos of Fernando and Stuart competing last year by following the links on our JustGiving page – as you can tell, the weather conditions last year were somewhat unpredictable, so here’s hoping for a bright and sunny weekend this time around! Photos will also be added over time of the rest of the team training and hopefully of some group training sessions as the big day approaches.

You can make a sponsorship donation to Naomi House on our JustGiving page at www.justgiving.com/teamcarlyle or by personally donating to one of the competitors who will then pass on the payment. Every donation – no matter how large or small – is vital to help pay for the running of Naomi House and jacksplace. Your sponsorship will make a difference to the lives of children who need it most. Thanks in advance from all of us for your support, and we may even see some of you in the grounds of Blenheim Palace on the weekend of 5^th and 6^th June.

With your help, our target is to raise as much as we can for this very worthwhile cause. We have set our primary target at a total of £7,750 which will cover the costs of operating the wonderful multi-sensory room in Naomi House for a period of 5 months. If we can achieve this target then our ultimate aim is to reach a total of £13,727, a figure which would pay for the final fit-out and furnishing costs of the state-of-the-art en-suite bedrooms in jacksplace.

For those of you who are Carlyle employees, any donation should be matched by Carlyle under the Easymatch scheme – please ensure as much money as possible is matched in this way, as it will make a substantial difference to the eventual total.

For everyone, donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - we raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Please dig deep and donate now.

Thanks again

Fernando, Mark, Matt, Mike, Rob, Stuart and Szymon