The head of an award-winning Newcastle company is trek to the South Pole in tribute to his mother.
Michael Mitten, chief executive of electro mechanical engineering company Houghton International, will spend 10 days in temperatures ranging from -25°C to -50°C to complete a unusual double,
The trek comes 10 years on from a similar challenge, when Mr Mitten trekked to the North Pole in memory of his father Ron, who had died from lung cancer two years earlier.
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Houghton International was founded by Mr Mitten’s parents Ron and Christine, and after raising £40,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support in memory of his father, he is now hoping to raise even more for the MS Society, to mark the bravery of his mother Christine, who suffered MS for more than 18 years.
Early next week he will fly to Chile before joining a four-person team that will aim to tackle a trek of 60 nautical miles across a hostile Antarctic environment, pulling 80kg of equipment and food needed to make the journey.
“This will be one of the toughest, yet most exhilarating challenges of my life,” said Mr Mitten.
“Knowing that the money I raise will be used to help fund research and help support for those affected by multiple sclerosis is the best part of all.
“I’m embarking on this challenge for the MS Society because I really believe in their cause and the way they supported and cared for my mum after her diagnosis.
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“The charity helps over 100,000 people living with MS in the 海角视频 with a raft of services tailored to their specific needs, making a real difference to their lives.”
Mr Mitten’s mother Christine was diagnosed with MS in the late 1990s, with the illness leaving her confined to a wheelchair for a number of years.
But she managed to reduce the illness to a benign form after investigating a number of alternative therapies and making major changes to her diet – seeing such improvements to her health that she backpacked around Cuba with a friend and climbed Machu Picchu in Peru.
Mr Mitten - who has thanked his wife Dorcas and his team at Houghton International for their support in his fundraising quest. He is hoping to raise £50,000 for MS Society, which will be split between the Sunderland MS Society - of which Mrs Mitten was a long-term supporter and fundraiser - and research into how diet can affect symptoms of MS.
He said: “This company wouldn’t exist without my mother’s drive. My dad was the engineering genius and we’re dining out on some of his innovations to this day.
“But my mother was the business brain and it was her drive that kept the whole thing going - together they made a a cracking team. My mother took that strength into her fight with MS; she was resolute.
“She had some terrible times with MS but was able to make changes in her life that were immensely positive for her and her family. We want her to remember her as a positive person.”
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More details on Mr Mitten’s trek can be found on the website https://polesapart2019.com/.
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Houghton International has announced plans to further expand its capacity by investing in an additional 44,000 sqft of operational space at the CA Parsons Works in Heaton, Newcastle.
The additional space will be used initially to house the company’s growing pump services division and improve its testing capabilities to meet an increased demand in this market.
The building is located adjacent to Houghton International’s large machine repair shop, having been the home of industrial engineering in the North East for more than 100 years. It is now owned by Siemens Power Generations Service.
Mr Mitten said: “As the business continues to grow, we continue to invest in our people and our facilities to ensure we can service our customers needs both now and in the future. We now have 110,000 sqft of operational space across the business from which to deliver our range of electro mechanical support services.”
Darren Davidson, managing director of Siemens Power Generation, added: “It is excellent that we have found an opportunity with Houghton International to utilise our unused space on the site with a North East based business and also look forward to working with Houghton International further in the future.”