Kinly’s Xtreme MTR Challenge Raises £29,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital
Kinly, the global provider of AV integration and UC services and support, assembled a 26-strong team of employees and partners to tackle the Xtreme Microsoft Teams Room (MTR) Challenge in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH). The challenge facing the team involved scaling the summit of Pen y Fan, the highest peak in South Wales, to set up and run a fully operational Microsoft Teams Room.
The challenge took place on Saturday, July 1st. While the rain held off, the team were confronted with gale force winds and cold temperatures. In a true display of teamwork, participants took turns carrying the equipment needed to set up the Microsoft Teams Room (MTR) during the five mile, 1000m ascent. The technology included two 43-inch Sony screens, a Logitech Rally bar and Tap, a Peerless dual screen stand, two Shure mic pods, a Pexip and RealWear headset, one large battery pack, two tables and eight chairs, amounting to a combined weight of over 250 kg.
At the top of Pen y Fan, the team assembled the first ever MTR to be built on a mountain. Participants dialled into the call from locations across the globe to congratulate the team on reaching the summit and successfully setting the meeting room up.
So far, Kinly has raised over £29,000, comfortably eclipsing the £20,000 target it set for GOSH. Money donated will be used to fund support for families and children, life-saving medical equipment, research into children’s health and rebuilding and refurbishment. The equipment used in the challenge will now be auctioned. All proceeds will then be donated to GOSH, with the aim of exceeding £30,000.
The GOSH charity is the UK’s largest dedicated funder of child health research which provides care to approximately 750 seriously ill children and young people every day. The cause brought the AV industry together with Ingram, Logitech, Nuvias, Peerless AV, Pexip, RealWear, Shure, Sony and TD Synnex all sponsoring the challenge.
Taj Ghere, UK and Ireland Managing Director, Kinly, said:
“It was a brilliant day but a real struggle at times, especially with over 20kg on your back and what felt like gale force ten winds! But we all stuck together and it was a fantastic moment when we powered everything on, the Wi-Fi signal lit up and all the participants on the call broke into applause.
It's mind-blowing that this event has raised such a large sum of money. This is going to make a huge difference for GOSH who are in the process of setting up a new unit for children with cancer. That has made all of this worthwhile and so much more.”
Justin Paveley, UK Engineering Director, Kinly, who was integral in the organisation of the challenge, said:
“Arriving on the day I couldn’t wait to get started. All Kinly employees and our partners arrived on time raring to go! The most exciting and rewarding part of it all has been watching the pound signs continue to roll in and exceed our target for this fantastic cause. I would like to thank all those involved in helping to make this great event a success and say a big well done to everyone that participated.”
Watch the video to see how the Kinly team did it and click here to donate to GOSH.
