The mortgage mole

7 June 2010

High hopes Mole would like to wish good luck to the 11 representatives of Phoebus Software who will take part in Habitat for Humanity’s Hope Challenge.

The two-day event starts on June 11 and Phoebus plans to send two teams to brave the gruelling mental and physical challenge. Teams will hike up several hills and build shelters to sleep in, in an attempt to experience a taste of the struggles faced by those living in poverty.

“This is a chance for us not only to raise money for charity but also strengthen the team in a way you can’t do in the boardroom,” Paul Hunt, managing director of Phoebus, told Mole.

“The final challenge will be getting everyone to ignore the comfort of their beds at home and get back into the office on Monday morning.”

To help the Phoebus teams meet their goal of £5,900, visit www.justgiving.com/ phoebushopechallenge.

Blonde ambition The recovery may be underway but the gloom of the recession has not yet left us, and Mole was amused to read about an unusual method of lifting spirits in Latvia.

The country is still in the grip of strife and the Latvian Association of Blondes - yes, it exists - decided that nothing cheers a place up more than a parade of blonde ladies. So hundreds recently marched through the capital Riga, raising spirits as they went.

With Mortgage Strategy’s features editor Christine Toner and online editor Natalie Martin both blondes editor Robert Thickett came up with the idea of an MS march through London, a plan met with frosty silence by the girls.