Carling Group directors and international entrepreneurs, and founders of family investment office, The Carling Group, Graeme and Leanne Carling will take on a gruelling Everest trek to raise funds for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), as part of the couple’s philanthropic commitments.
This month, Graeme and Leanne Carling will travel from their home in Dubai, to Kathmandu in Nepal, taking a short flight to Lukla Airport, dubbed the most dangerous airport in the World, before commencing a gruelling 11-day hike to Base Camp Everest at an altitude of 17,594ft. The philanthropic couple will use their trip to raise awareness and funds for JDRF, an organisation on a mission to find a cure for Type-1 Diabetes, a condition that the couple’s daughter Blaire was diagnosed with four years ago.
In 2019, then aged 8 years old, Graeme and Leanne’s daughter was diagnosed with the life-changing condition after a period of illness. As part of Blaire’s Type-1 journey, the family connected with JDRF, the organisation not only funding essential research with the purpose of curing the condition, but also providing support and resources for young people and their families as they start life living with the condition.
Speaking of their commitment to raising funds for JDRF, Leanne Carling commented; “Watching my daughter adapt to life living with Type-1 has been tough, and ultimately my husband and I needed to adapt too. Shortly after Blaire was diagnosed, we watched a show on BBC that JDRF had commissioned and it was eye-opening, we connected with the organisation immediately and offered our support. Ultimately JDRF is working to cure the condition, and if we can help do that for Blaire, then of course we will.”
Graeme Carling added; “Giving is important to Leanne and I, and we are in the fortunate position to use our profile and resources to support great charitable organisations like JDRF. We love a challenge, and pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones, so we are excited to get started.”
Entrepreneurial couple Graeme and Leanne Carling have publicly committed to various charitable endeavours, including pledging £1million to childrens charity, Caudwell Children. The couple were also the gold sponsor at the 100-year fundraising ball for JDRF in Edinburgh last year, an event attended by high-profile Type-1 sufferer, and former UK Prime Minister Teresa May.