Chris Bertish ‘Stands Up’ across the Atlantic, and for the welfare of children in Africa

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Carrick’s Kieron McRae left Cape Town for Antigua yesterday to welcome local hero Chris Bertish who is paddling on a specially constructed SUP across the Atlantic from Morocco to Antigua in aid of charity.

“I can’t believe we have almost reached the finish of this incredible journey. Painting a smile with every mile I’ve crossed over the Atlantic has been about changing lives. Knowing the impact this adventure will have has been the driving force that’s kept me going strong over the past three months.” – Chris Bertish

Chris Bertish – internationally acclaimed speaker, Big Wave surfer and Guinness SUP world record holder – is a man whose dream is soon to culminate in reality when he reaches his larger than life milestone. What he is about to achieve through The SUP Crossing is nothing short of awe-inspiring, in the truest sense of the word.

From L-R: Kieron McRae, Chris Bertish, Craig Featherby

Carrick Wealth was founded on the principle of revolutionising the financial services industry in terms of professionalism, transparency and integrity, particularly in the offshore space. The goal that unites Chris and Carrick is exactly that: both are pioneers in the offshore space – Chris on water and Carrick in offshore jurisdictions.

For this reason, Carrick has chosen to be the proud official title sponsor of the The SUP Crossing, striving to back the brave and the revolutionary, the pioneering and the professional, in a truly extraordinary feat.

With only a paddle for company and the Inmarsat satellite overhead, Chris has been facing rolling waves, unpredictable weather, predators of the deep, as well as the dangers of shipping lanes, fatigue and the great unknown.

All for charity.

Chris and Carrick are standing up for something even bigger than a transatlantic crossing aboard a customised SUP paddle. We are standing up to support the work of three charities that perform vital work for the welfare of vulnerable children: Operation Smile, the Lunchbox Fund and The Signature of Hope Trust.

Who are these children?

  • Every year, one in 700 infants in South Africa is born with cleft lips and cleft palates; of the more than 1 million infants born during 2014, of this number, 1428 would have been born with the medical condition. When multiplied by the number of infants annually born on the continent, it becomes clear that the need for surgery is enormous, especially in rural areas where there is no access to the type of specialist skill required to rectify the condition. The great news is that these infants can be returned to normality through well-timed surgeries.
  • A donation of just R5 000 can pay for the operating costs to return one infant’s face and mouth to wholeness. The entire medical team donates their skill to Operation Smile for free because, as the team says, it’s the right thing to do.
  • The second charity being supported by The SUP Crossing is the Lunchbox Fund – doing amazing work in South Africa. Thousands of children in the country are orphans who are struggling to make do without the support of parents and relatives. Where there is parental presence, some are so desperately poor that children go to bed starving and wake up starving. Starving children cannot be educated because they are too listless to concentrate. The Lunchbox Fund operates around the motto: Education through Nutrition. The Lunchbox Fund pays the Food Mamas to cook and serve simple, nutritious meals to these children while at school – which further encourages school attendance.
  • For the cost of one cappuccino in Johannesburg or Cape Town, TEN children can be provided with a hot, nutritious meal per day.
  • The third charity supported by the SUP Crossing is the CSI division of Carrick Wealth, known as the Signature of Hope Trust. Signature of Hope has plans to build five early childhood development preschools in rural areas of South Africa and administer them in partnership with professional bodies.
  • The need for solutions in the Early Education sector in this country is overwhelming and critical. I have always dreamt of building additional schools and assisting where we can so that people can dream a bigger dream. Chris has paid the price to make the SUP Crossing dream come true, and I’m sure we can agree that this is a truly inspirational effort from an inspirational human being.

Carrick is backing Chris’s five-year dream so that more children can receive the medical care, food and education so desperately needed in Southern Africa. If other business leaders and the general public would like to #StandUp with us, the children of Africa could thrive to see another day.

  • Carrick Wealth is a boutique advisory specialising in wealth and capital management, using clients’ financial goals as a starting point for developing individually tailored wealth protection plans. Their highly qualified team of professional financial advisers are skilful in growing, protecting and preserving our clients’ wealth, whilst providing independent and expert financial advice. Carrick lives by the creed that none of us is as great as all of us.
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