HOLLYWOOD STAR EVA LONGORIA PRESENTS JOHN CAUDWELL WITH CHARITY "PHILANTHROPRENEUR" AWARD.

JOHN CAUDWELL
@johndcaudwell
PRESS RELEASE

December 10, 2012.

HOLLYWOOD STAR EVA LONGORIA PRESENTS JOHN CAUDWELL WITH CHARITY "PHILANTHROPRENEUR" AWARD.

Philanthropist and entrepreneur John Caudwell's two worlds merged on Saturday night when he was presented with The Noble Gift Philantrhropreneur Award by Hollywood star Eva Longoria.

John received the award at The Noble Gift Gala at ME London where other award winners included will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas.

"It's easy to get blinded by the fantasy and glamour of Hollywood and lose sight of reality. But the commitment of Eva Longoria in supporting and highlighting the efforts of myself and the other award winners illustrates that while Hollywood is largely completely lost in that fantasy and its own importance, there are a few shining lights who are deeply appreciative of the gritty reality of the tough challenges the massively less-fortunate face and overcome every day," said John Caudwell.

"Eva Longoria is one of those special people who recognise that charities face real battles - not just in addressing the challenges they commit to support, but also in driving an awareness of what they do, and consequently to raise even more funds and support.

"Yes, we had a great and glamourous evening, but the effect and influence of such events in bringing to the fore the plights and challenges of those in need should not be underestimated."

The Noble Gift Gala honours individuals who have impacted the world through their exceptional philanthropic work, and is a unique international fundraising gala initiative that brings together the worlds of business, celebrity and philanthropy to raise funds and awareness to fiscally responsible charities locally and internationally.

It works with fundraising organisations and charities including Make-A-Wish UK, The Eva Longoria Foundation, The Great Initiative, Seven Bar Foundation,  Fight for Life, and, most recently, Caudwell Children, a charity founded by John Caudwell, and which he continues to support.

Caudwell Children, which John founded in 2000, is so efficient that it converts every £1 raised into £2.08 to help desperately ill children and their families.

"It's a great honour to receive any award or recognition. But this is an award which in effect recognises the efforts philanthropists make the world over, and how charities and good causes embrace and direct donations and resources, in turn enabling them to make a huge difference to the lives of the vulnerable," said John Caudwell.

"But while I was delighted to accept the award, I must highlight the day-to-day efforts of the Caudwell Children team, and use this moment to emphasise the depth of the desperate plight of the children and families Caudwell Children tries to help."

Amongst others, John also supports the Elton John Aids Foundation, The Prince's Trust and the NSPCC, and was the principal donor to the Bomber Command Memorial in London.  John Caudwell is one of the UK's most successful entrepreneurs, having built and then sold  the Caudwell Group of telecoms businesses. The sale of the group, whose high street face was Phones 4u, realised £1.46 billion. Since the 2006 sale, John has concentrated on supporting various charities, but with a particular emphasis on Caudwell Children.

Other recipients of 2012 Noble Gift Awards: Mrs. Ella Krasner (NG Philanthropist Award), rap music star will.i.am (NG Humanitarian Award) and Mrs. Sylvie Young OBE (NG Wanson Award).  

Ends

Further information:

Iain Macauley

07788 978800

im@pressrelations.co.uk

www.caudwell.com

www.caudwellchildren.com

Lands End to John O'Groats

Twitter: @johndcaudwell

Photo's: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjAofJyf

Just Giving: http://www.justgiving.com/John-Caudwell

I thought Day 6 was by far possibly the worst cycling day I had ever endured in my life.  But, I was not prepared for what the final day had in store for me.  Only approximately 70 miles to do to get to the finish line, but took us around 9 hours to complete!

Again, the weather was against us from the moment we set out. The relentless rain, the cold strong biting head winds and the horrendous fog all conspired against us, setting us back hours.   It was a constant battle fighting against the weather.  Many times we just wanted to give up and surrender, but we were sponsored to do the entire distance and, in any event, failure is not a happy soul mate, so we pushed on through the pain and torture, and kept going yard after gruelling yard for the last agonising 15 miles.

Finally, we made it to the finish line - feeling mentally and physically destroyed, exhausted and battered from head to toe - our bodies in pain.  I truly hope that I don’t experience anything quite so close to my breaking point so many times in a week ever again.

To put it into perspective, 8 years ago we cycled from Athens to Stoke-on-Trent, did 125 miles each day for 17 days, experienced lots of traumas, breadowns and crashes, but nothing like the pain that we have just suffered.

I am not sure why it was so difficult, whether it is my age, whether it was because I had the flu two weeks before, whether it is the distance of 135 a day or whether it was the completely atrocious weather conditions.  Maybe it was all of these things just conspiring to be a bridge too far. 

As I sit here at my desk this morning writing this blog, feeling awful, the two consolations that I have are that one, we finished it and two, we raised a lot of money for Caudwell Children.

We are just so relieved to have achieved the goal we set out to do.  We definitely couldn’t have done it without our wonderful support team and the support of our friends, family and everyone who has followed us, especially those who have donated.  So, a huge thank you to you all, for really helping us through the emotionally lows.

Lands End to John O'Groats

Twitter: @johndcaudwell

Photo's: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjAofJyf

Just Giving: http://www.justgiving.com/John-Caudwell

Garmin - locate the riders: https://my.garmin.com/mygarmin/login.htm

Username: Landsend2012

Password: caudwellchildren

 

I have had thousands of fabulous days cycling in my life, with quite a few bad days and I think yesterday was by far possibly the worst ever! It was only 110 miles from Glencoe to Tain, we have been doing 20+ miles more than that on previous days, but against really heavy headwinds and with everybody in a state of exhaustion, it seemed much further.

Brian and I are still nursing extremely bad knees; and the pain now seems never ending.

Again, we didn’t arrive at the hotel until 11.30pm last night, having gone through about 5 hours of rain, with temperatures of 7 degrees. We were completely soaked, frozen through and absolutely exhausted!

The last day is going to be another hard day – we all just want to be at the finish now.

Lands End to John O'Groats

Twitter: @johndcaudwell

Photo's: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjAofJyf

Just Giving: http://www.justgiving.com/John-Caudwell

Garmin - John's personal history: Day 5 http://bit.ly/NcRtzM

Garmin - locate the riders: https://my.garmin.com/mygarmin/login.htm

Username: Landsend2012

Password: caudwellchildren

Yesterday we cycled 140 miles. Libby’s bike broke completely, so the support van had to turn around to bring us a spare bike. On top of this we were fighting against a strong, relentlesshead wind, making it one of the longest days so far. On the positive side, the weather did decide to support us, with the sun finally showing its face – I can tell you we needed this!

We had late afternoon tea at the Drovers Arms, a lovely pub filled with lots of character, which left us with 50 miles to do. However, after having two pints of beer, a plate of Haggis, liver, onions and mashed potatoes made it extremely difficult – possibly the worst nutrition we could have had for the road!

Richard our physio, decided to join us for a while, which was a lovely ride for him as the scenery was beautiful. However, for us it was still a huge struggle and we didn’t arrive at Glencoe until late evening, around 11.30pm!

At midnight, Brian approached me and thought it may be a good idea if we did the whole 200 miles today but, he obviously didn’t get the answer he wanted from me! Therefore, we are planning on completing just 120 miles – destination, just north of Inverness.

As you can imagine, we are all extremely exhausted, battered and our bodies are simply destroyed. Today (the penultimate day) is another fight as we need to keep up the pace, to ensure we meet the finish line on schedule.

Lands End to John O'Groats

Twitter: @johndcaudwell

Photo's: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjAofJyf

Just Giving: http://www.justgiving.com/John-Caudwell

Garmin - John's personal history: Day 4 http://bit.ly/Na667d

Garmin - locate the riders: https://my.garmin.com/mygarmin/login.htm

Username: Landsend2012

Password: caudwellchildren

We started off in glorious sunshine, which was unbelievable and a welcome change - we enjoyed  3 or 4 hours of it, as we climbed 1400ft to the top of Shap.

A guest rider joined us, Matt Moran, who initially only came to cycle an hour and we ended up persuading him to do 6 hours! The weather soon turned against us and we had 3 hours of pouring rain. Once again, we were getting drenched! At this point I’m sure Matt then regretted joining us.

After lunch, we had 65 miles remaining to end up in Sanquhar. A total of 145 miles that day!

Partly due to sitting on the saddle for so many hours, day after day, and partly due to all the wet and rain we have been enduring - getting soaked wet through - the nappy rash is getting worse for everybody. It has become agony just to even sit on the seat! It’s not as bad as it sounds because after the first 30 minutes of pedalling, it goes numb. The problem is if you stop for a rest, it comes back to life and the pain starts all over again.

It really has turned out to be the biggest challenge.  A constant race battling against the clock makes it only just borderline possible.

Yesterday, a typical day, up at 6am, on the road for 7.30am and arrived at the hotel for 9pm. Had a quick bath, quick dinner, quick massage and then organised everything for the following day, charging Garmins, phones, cameras, computers, route plan and finally bed for 12.30am. On top of all this I’m getting no sleep as I am so wound up, “I’m cycling all through the night” - I just wish I could add those miles into reality!

Why so long on the road? With a group of 7 people, there is always somebody with a new injury, a back spasm or a breakdown and yesterday we had, failed gears, bad knees, back and ankle problems, etc etc.  Combining all these vital stops with a lunch break just continually conspires to keep us on the road.

There has been a time or two when I have felt my knees were just going to become so painful that I might have to give up, but somehow a combination of heat rub, massage and ibuprofen, up to yet, has kept me going! I do now think that they will last the distance, since each day they seem to cycle through the pain and gradually improve before getting worse again.

Today we are heading towards Fort William, although we all will probably finish somewhere south of there.

Lands End to John O'Groats

Twitter: @johndcaudwell

Photo's: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjAofJyf

Just Giving: http://www.justgiving.com/John-Caudwell

Garmin - John's personal history: Day 3 http://bit.ly/MWVk5B
Garmin - locate the riders: https://my.garmin.com/mygarmin/login.htm

Username: Landsend2012

Password: caudwellchildren

Day of three thirds.

First third – awful drizzling rain, with breakdown after breakdown after breakdown, one set back being, Libby’s front brake calliper dropped off and I ended up riding her bike.  At this point it was obvious and clear to us that we weren’t going to make Lancaster.

Second third - the skies brightened up and the whole highlight of the day was arriving at Whitchurch, with friends and family to welcome us, giving us all a much needed boost of support!

We set off in reasonably high spirits with 80 miles to do to get to Garstang, just south of Preston.  But, the heavens opened with the most almighty thunderstorm. I wasn’t prepared, I hadn’t got my waterproofs on, as I thought I had seen the last of the rain. We got absolutely drowned and the temperature dropped to 12 degrees -  we still had approx 40 miles to go, our spirits were taking a battering. The water was cooled on the road in places, up to 10 inches deep and as cars came past they sent a colossal wave of water, drowning us from head to toe.

We arrived at the hotel at 9pm feeling completely and utterly destroyed and to top it all, my knee is continuing to deteriorate.

The good news is, we’re up this morning; the sun is shining and spirits are raised, albeit we are very very weary.

Hopefully if all goes well today, we will get into Scotland somewhere north of Dumfries.

Lands End to John O' Groats

Twitter: @johndcaudwell

Photo's: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjAofJyf

Just Giving: http://www.justgiving.com/John-Caudwell

Garmin - John's personal history: Day 2 http://bit.ly/Rab1JI

Garmin - locate the riders: https://my.garmin.com/mygarmin/login.htm

Username: Landsend2012

Password: caudwellchildren

Yesterday was Tiverton to Leominster. The pace slowed dramatically to an average of only 14mph. I don’t know whether this was pure fatigue or the weather and the steepness of the hills, but it was one of the toughest cycle rides ever.

My knees, back and backside were all screaming the whole way and it does make me worry about my body’s ability to cope with the extreme distances ahead. It is the distance that is the problem. We get into the hotel so late that there is little time to eat and to prepare for the next day and then it is up at 6am and away again.

Anyway I am hoping, that somehow today is a better day, that my ibruprofen knees hold up and that we do Leominster to Lancaster in better style then we did yesterday.

Lands End to John O'Groats

Twitter: @johndcaudwell

Photo's: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjAofJyf

Just Giving: http://www.justgiving.com/John-Caudwell

Garmin - John's personal history: http://bit.ly/LiisA0

Garmin - locate the riders: https://my.garmin.com/mygarmin/login.htm

Username: Landsend2012

Password: caudwellchildren

Months of preparation couldn’t possibly have prepared us for the British Summer. Day one was 135 miles from Lands End to Tiverton, in dewy rain. There was no protection, the rain just went through the helmet, down the neck and into the shoes until the shoes overflowed!

Brian had a puncture on the front wheel - a combination of that and the greasily wet road, meant falling off into a ditch.

At last it was lunch stop, 80 miles in. As soon as we stopped working the wet turned icily cold so it was not much comfort, other than the wonderful taste of chicken soup, tinned boiled potatoes and hot dog sausages, a broth fit for a king!

Eventually, group 1 arrived at the hotel at 8pm in the evening, group 2 arrived an hour and a half later, having had some mechanical problems. We just about gulped down dinner and got to bed for a 6 hour sleep.



It's clear that this whole ride is a race against the clock. We're out on the road so many hours, that it is just difficult to fit everything in. As I'm typing this blog, the rain is pouring down and the forecast is to get worse so it is more of the same today.

CAUDWELL PROPOSAL TO MAKE £100 MILLION FROM THIN AIR – AND GIVE IT AWAY.

JOHN CAUDWELL

@johndcaudwell

PRESS RELEASE

April 26, 2012.

CAUDWELL PROPOSAL TO MAKE £100 MILLION FROM THIN AIR – AND GIVE IT AWAY.

Photos: http://bit.ly/HzcyaS

Philanthropist John Caudwell, who is believed to be the country’s highest personal tax payer, is proposing to turn thin air above the UK’s most expensive car park into up to £100 million – and then give the money to charity.

Caudwell, who acquired the property in Audley Square, Mayfair, London, is to regenerate the building and create super-prime residences for the world’s elite.

But, crucially, in the process, he proposes to generate substantial funds to help London’s vulnerable by adding two more floors, with all profits generated from the sale of the additional apartments going to charity.

He already has planning permission to develop the site to the maximum permitted within planning guidelines – but says if local government planning committees across the country allowed projects to be expanded beyond the original approved plan, for charitable purposes, it could generate billions of pounds for community projects.

He is proposing the introduction of special local authority planning sub-committees, formed of experts in design, architecture and construction, as well as council planners, charities and representatives of the business community. These special committees will be given the authority and discretion to make intelligent and informed decisions to enable development projects to be expanded beyond the original approved plan, with profits from the expansion going to charity.

Caudwell’s expanded plans for Audley Square would set the precedent. The profits from the additional two floors in the development would go into his Thin Air Foundation www.thinairfoundation.com (website live from April 26, 2012), set up to help tackle social deprivation issues in London.

“The incredibly exciting thing about the idea of adding two floors to this project is that we create a massive amount of financial support for London’s underprivileged - and potentially provide a prototype for future developers and investors,” said John Caudwell.

“Many philanthropists could well be taxed out of giving, but I actually want to give more. ‘Creative philanthropy’ could become a crucial element of charitable support in challenging economic times.

“Imagine if the planners were to be allowed to flex their rules - but only where the architectural merits were undoubted, and, equally specifically, only where all of the incremental profit went to charitable causes; in London alone the extra revenue for good causes could be hundreds of millions of pounds a year. The lives of thousands of vulnerable people would be transformed.

“I’ve spoken with Boris Johnson about this plan, and how he can use his position and charisma to help deliver it - assuming he wins the London mayoral election, of course. But I would have thought any London Mayor would recognise the merits of this proposal.

“In the case of my Audley Square development, it would be a straightforward and highly cost-efficient process to add two floors to the structure, and, in the process, create beautiful apartments which could generate as much as £100 million in profit, all of which would go into a foundation designed to tackle social deprivation,” said Caudwell.

“The enhanced plans are ready to be run past the appropriate authorities; sustainability is high on the design agenda, as is the ‘grand Mayfair’ architectural look that we seek to create.

“I must stress I would make nothing from this additional floor space – I already have planning permission for the building, but I’m so passionate about the concept and how it could transform London’s ability to deal with deprivation that I’m delaying the start of construction to try to make the ‘thin-air’ idea work.

“It’s difficult to establish accurate figures, but research seems to indicate that, for instance, the base cost to the state of a homeless person is around £30,000 a year, but can easily double or treble if they’re involved in crime. But helping them off the street and into care or accommodation - and out of trouble - costs the state around £25,000 a year.”

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Notes

John Caudwell, who made his fortune by building and selling his mobile phone business for £1.5 billion, has in recent years turned his efforts towards charity and philanthropic work, ploughing millions of pounds into causes as wide-ranging as the soon-to-be-unveiled Bomber Command Memorial, the Prince’s Regeneration Trust, the Elton John Aids Foundation and his own children’s charity, Caudwell Children @caudwellkids, amongst others.

Further information:

Iain Macauley

im@pressrelations.co.uk

+44(0)7788 978800

www.thinairfoundation.com

www.caudwell.com

@johndcaudwell

@caudwellkids

CAUDWELL IS TITLE CHARACTER IN SKY 1 HD SERIES “THE ANGEL”

JOHN CAUDWELL

@johndcaudwell

PRESS RELEASE

January 19, 2012.

ENTREPRENEUR JOHN CAUDWELL IS TITLE CHARACTER IN SKY 1 HD SERIES “THE ANGEL”.

Photo available.

Entrepreneur John Caudwell is to be the title character in a new flagship Sky 1 HD series to be screened in the summer – The Angel.

John, who sold his mobile telecoms business for £1.5 billion in 2006, has more recently been involved in extensive charitable and philanthropic work, but in this series he goes back to his business roots by assessing entrepreneurs who will compete for £100,000 of his money in each programme.

In each of the five 60-minute shows, six contestants will be invited into the studio to compete for that investment in a bid to make their business dreams come true.

But it will not be easy: Caudwell will scrutinise their every word, thought and move.

“Business is tough and uncompromising, and that’s how I’ll be in interviewing and assessing people who are hoping to get £100,000 of my money to invest in their business,” said John.

“I’ve interviewed many would-be senior managers for my businesses, and I know from experience that with the right people on board, you can make almost anything work – but the wrong ones, with the wrong approach, wrong attitude and wrong qualities can be disastrous.

“I’ll be looking for specific and exceptional qualities – perhaps not entirely what these contestants would expect: hunger and ambition can hide in many places in somebody’s character, personality and background.”

John, from Stoke-on-Trent, transformed twenty six mobile phones worth £1,350 each into a £2 billion business. Caudwell Group – best known for the high street chain Phones4U – had by 2000 achieved an annual turnover exceeding £1billion. More recently he has provided millions of pounds worth of support through philanthropic work to projects including the Prince’s Regeneration Trust and its redevelopment of Middleport Pottery in Stoke-on-Trent, as major benefactor to the Bomber Command Memorial in London’s Green Park, and to the work of the Elton John Aids Foundation amongst others – although his prime charitable interest is his own charity, Caudwell Children www.caudwellchildren.com

John says that the success of the business was mostly to do with the quality of his employees – who could have been successful in any business – although being involved in the fast-growing mobile phone market was a contributing factor.

“Success can be down to the individual and his or her qualities, and the ability to deliver against an idea rather than the idea itself – although the idea is, of course, important,” said John (Twitter @johndcaudwell).

“Bearing that in mind, the show provides a fantastic opportunity to combine analysis of business people’s abilities with an opportunity to help drive young entrepreneurial companies forward, but, best of all, it creates a vast opportunity to generate cash for charitable purposes: all profits from my investments, and all my fees, will go to my charity, Caudwell Children (@caudwellkids), which helps sick and dying – but massively inspirational – children.”

The six contestants – each carefully chosen for character, contrast and their business idea - will be put under extreme pressure throughout a series of rounds specifically designed to address John’s six golden business attributes: drive, ambition, passion, resilience, commercial intellect and leadership.

The rounds will consist of a mixture of individual tasks, head-to-heads and group challenges, and at the end of each round, after the worst performing contestants have faced a thorough grilling from John, one hopeful will be eliminated.  The last remaining entrepreneur in each programme will be awarded £100,000 of John’s own money in investment.

However, it is only after John has put his money on the table does he finally find out what he’s just invested in.

The Angel is a Twofour production for Sky 1 HD. The factual entertainment series was commissioned by Stuart Murphy and will be exec produced by Melanie Leach and Chris Brogden (Twofour) and Antonia Hurford-Jones (Sky). Sarah Caplin is consultant executive producer, and the series producer is Kate Bates.

The Angel is due to be broadcast on Sky 1 HD in the summer. To get involved visit www.sky.com/theangel.

In 2006, John Caudwell sold his 10,000-employee mobile phone business, which included Phones 4u, for £1.5bn. John now concentrates on charitable and philanthropic work including Caudwell Children @caudwellkids.

Ends

Further information:

Iain Macauley

07788 978800

im@pressrelations.co.uk