Turn Key Blog. Things we've done and the things we love.

Although Tiger Woods might not be shaking in his boots just yet, the standard of golf on display from the TK team at a recent charity event in Wakefield was more akin to Wentworth than West Yorkshire!

Raising a staggering £14,000 for Wakefield Hospice , the charity extravaganza at Wakefield Golf Club was the setting for Nik ‘Nicklaus’ Entwistle, Mike ‘Mcllroy’ Robinson and Chris ‘Couples’ Hughes to don their dodgy plus fours and swing into action to do TK proud. The trio were joined by Bret Smith from Depuy, making it a formidable foursome, on paper at least.

Despite the wet conditions, the TK team started off strong with Nik and Mike holing some audacious putts and pulling some majestic fairway shots out of the bag to keep the scorecard ticking over. Nik’s stunning tee-shot to within just four feet of the pin on the first par 3 hole was certainly one to remember (as if Nik would let us forget!). Chris was sadly finding every tree and bunker possible on the opening holes, but his moment in the sun (rain) would surely come later in the round.

The heavens really opened on the back nine and the TK team would have found more use out of a snorkel than a sand wedge. Chris finally got in amongst the action and picked up some points for the team as the conditions started to deteriorate badly. ‘Mystic Mike’ as he is now known, finished the round off by putting his psychic powers to the test and attempted to predict the scores for the final hole – before he’d even taken his tee-shot. Sadly the promised birdies – and points – failed to materialise.

A slightly sodden Team TK can only be praised for keeping their spirits high and sense of humour intact as they battled through the elements to complete all 18 holes.

Soaked to the skin, the boys trudged off the final green to make sense of the scorecard, dry off and spruce up ready for the evening presentation. Despite missing out on the first prize, the team achieved a respectable top five position, leaving Nik to claim his ‘nearest the pin’ prize and the raffle for good measure.

A great day was had by all and a big thank you must go out to sponsors Ashleigh Signs for laying on a superb event. No doubt the TK team will be gunning for glory again next year!

The TK team took to the streets of Leeds on Sunday to take part in the Jane Tomlinson Leeds 10k. The sun was shining, you couldn’t miss us in our charity’s lime green t-shirts and we were ready to run on behalf of Leeds Children’s Hospital Appeal.

After having our picture taken with Leeds Children’s mascot, Mr Teddy, we were ready to go. We had runners of all levels giving it a go in the aid of charity. It was a big turnout not only with the amount of people running, but also the number of supporters who got up early to come and cheer us on. It was also great to see some of our lovely clients taking part; Michael Richmond, the Blacks’ team and Armstrong Watson to name a few.

As the race began many groups of runners stuck together to complete the race, however, in true TK style we instantly saw it as a friendly competition and wanted to win! While the winner of the entire 10K finished in an outstanding 30 minutes, our MD Nik came first place in the TK 10K league table at 54 minutes, shortly followed by Designer Paul at 57 and hot on his heels was Marketing’s Leanne at 59 minutes. With the rest of the team not far behind the top three.

The runners all received a medal and t-shirt to mark the occasion and then it was time for a nice big breakfast courtesy of Nik – we had, after all, worked up a good appetite!

A big well done to all our runners; Nik, Melissa, Vikki, Leanne, Derrick, Christian, Oliver, Carl, Paul and Tom who all did fantastic and were also a little sore on Monday morning!

 

At Turn Key we’re all about working together as a team. So when the opportunity arose to take part in a charity Euro 2012 tournament for St Martin’s Hospice we jumped at the chance to show off our team skills.

The boys (Nik, Mike, Sean, Christian, Derrick, Oliver and Darren) dusted off their football boots and headed on down to the new Lucozade Power League stadium in Seacroft. Representing Croatia we were feeling confident – what did it matter if many of us hadn’t played football for a few years? Or in Christian’s case hardly ever kicked a football!

We arrived in our mix matched old shorts and t-shirts and ready for a nice friendly kick-about – until  we spotted our competition all suited and booted in branded corporate colours.

The first game against the Republic of Ireland kicked off with a promising start with some fancy footwork from Sean, Nik and a free kick from Mike scoring our first goal. We even had a good defence with Darren (aka Safe Hands) in goal and Derrick playing as sweeper, so the confidence started to grow.

Next we were up against Spain. With two goals from Nik and some power shots from Sean and Oliver we were in with a chance. But unfortunately we couldn’t hold them off as Darren went all Gordon Banks on us to save a goal and broke his wrist in the process – real dedication to the cause!

Team Turn Key (aka Croatia) may have been at the bottom of the league but spirits and morale stayed on top, despite the injury – with Mike remaining optimistic at 7–1 down and spurring the team on with “Come on guys we can still win this!” as another goal flied into the goal.

A disallowed goal from Nik – apparently flying headers aren’t allowed in a five-a-side – meant we bowed out of the competition, but we did it with our heads held high. Team Turn Key did Croatia proud by remaining positive and playing well as a team right until the end, and most importantly we all had a great time while raising money for a great cause.

With festive parties taking over your diary, and the never ending gift list keeping you up at night, Christmas is notorious for being the most expensive time of the year. Well, this year I decided to not only do my bit for charity, but to give us girls the chance to rock up to the Christmas do‘ in a new outfit, which doesn’t break the bank.

Introducing ‘The Big Girly Frock Swap’, a charity clothes swap that I’ve been organising for the past couple of month’s with a good friend of mine, to raise money for a local blind society. The charity offers social care and advice, together with access for visually and hearing impaired people who struggle with everyday tasks, such as making a cup of tea – something which we take for granted.

The event, which takes place on Sunday 11 ^th December from 3-5pm, invites people to donate three items of clothing or accessories in return for a £10 admission fee. Not only will you be doing a good deed for charity, but guests will leave with new additions to their wardrobe, and the chance to win some amazing prizes, including tickets to The Graham Norton Show, jewellery, shoes and beauty products – all very girly!

The support so far has been incredible, and we’ve already raised £712 via online donations made by people who are unable to attend the event. With the continued support, we’re hoping to hit the £1,000 mark once all of our guests have swapped their trash for treasure!

If you want to do your bit for charity, whilst cleaning some space in your wardrobe, check out our Facebook page – for further details.