Sport Relief: meet the man running up the gherkin’s 1,037 steps for charity

 
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21 February 2014

Thousands of Londoners are walking, running or cycling a sponsored mile for Sport Relief — but one has taken the charity challenge to new heights.

Ciaran Bird, the UK boss of the world’s biggest property agent CBRE, is planning to run up all 1,037 steps of the Gherkin at St Mary Axe in the City.

Mr Bird, a former London Irish professional rugby player who appeared for the Barbarians against Argentina, became UK managing director at CBRE last year. The company manages the Gherkin building on behalf of its owner. The Evening Standard Dispossessed Fund is one of the beneficiaries of Sport Relief, helping vulnerable Londoners.

Ready for the challenge: Ciaran Bird outside the Gherkin

Mr Bird said: “It is fantastic that the Evening Standard and its Dispossessed Fund has teamed up with Sport Relief to help Londoners. Sport is a wonderful opportunity for people to get active and in this case help raise money for a great cause.

“The imagination and effort we put towards this cause will go a long way to helping people in disadvantaged positions.”

Since 2012, Comic Relief and Sport Relief have given £2 million to the Dispossessed Fund, used to fund 136 projects tackling inequality in the capital.

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