13 Mar 2008


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Asda trading director Darren Blackhurst joins Caravan as new fundraising committee president

Caravan

charity

Source : Caravan
Caravan, the charity for the UK grocery and FMCG marketplace, is delighted to announce and welcome Darren Blackhurst, Food Trading Director at Asda, as the new President of the Caravan Fundraising Committee.

Darren Blackhurst

From 1 April, Darren will take up his new position on the committee, taking over from Tony Smith of Unilever who has held the position for the past two years.

In his new role Darren will become involved in the strategic planning of Caravan’s fundraising. Extensive experience within the grocery industry ensures Darren is perfectly placed to take on this role and provide fresh input and new direction into Caravan’s fundraising work.

Darren began his career at Tesco in 1988. Over an 18-year period with Tesco he held various buying and commercial positions, culminating with his appointment to Commercial Director for Tesco Thailand in 2002.

Darren moved to Asda in January 2006 to become Food Trading Director. Over the past two years he has completely turned around the Asda Food Business and played a key role in the reinvigoration of the Asda business.

Darren commented: “I am absolutely delighted to be given the opportunity to take on this prestigious position as Fundraising Committee President. Caravan is a charity of great importance for our Industry and I look forward to working with the fundraising team to raise the fundraising activity to new levels.

“Many people are unaware of the good work that Caravan does and indeed the further potential that the charity has to support an even greater number of beneficiaries. Retailers and manufacturers alike have colleagues who fall on hard times and many of these need our help.

“It is always vitally important to recognise that Caravan represents and supports people from all sectors of our industry, not just the traditional independent heartland.”

“As President I would like to create a new fundraising event that will further raise the charity’s profile and allow us to have a bit of fun for a good cause. On 18 September 2008 we plan to run a Ryder Cup style golf day. Details will be communicated shortly.”

Gillian Barker, Director General of Caravan said: “This is an exciting time for Caravan with Darren Blackhurst joining us as our new President of Fundraising. We are very positive about the future of the Charity and with Darren on board it gives us a great opportunity to further promote our welfare work and build on our fund raising base.”

To find out more about Caravan, the new Caravan Achievement Awards and how you can become involved in 2008, please log onto www.caravan-charity.org.uk or contact us on 01252 875 925.

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