Berghaus has confirmed details of four new brand ambassadors. The company has added Rhiane Fatinikun, Zahrah Mahmood, Ed Jackson and Iona Rendall to its team. All have been working with Berghaus for some time, but have now officially joined athletes that include Sir Chris Bonington, Mick Fowler, Leo Houlding and Anna Taylor.
RHIANE FATINIKUN
Rhiane Fatinikun is the founder of Black Girls Hike and a campaigner for diversity in the outdoors. Berghaus has been supporting the organisation with products in recent years and will continue to sponsor its projects alongside Rhiane.
Rhiane Fatinikun comments: "When Berghaus first contacted me, all the team wanted to know was how they could help us grow and reach more women. Since then, they've supported Black Girls Hike with kit, exposure and access to their network. Berghaus cares about diversity and backing grass roots organisations in meaningful ways. It's been great having the brand's support, and I'm looking forward to announcing some of the amazing projects that we have planned together."
ZAHRAH MAHMOOD
Zahrah Mahmood has become a leading figure in driving participation and inclusion for Muslim women in the outdoors. Also known on social media as the Hillwalking Hijabi, Zahrah will be working with Berghaus on a range of campaigns and product initiatives.
Zahrah Mahmood comments: "I'm so happy to be working with Berghaus. From my initial conversations with the team, they've always been genuine and worked to understand me and what I stand for. I hope the partnership will continue to evolve and bring about some exciting projects!"
ED JACKSON
Quadriplegic Ed Jackson is a former professional rugby player with a passion for the mountains. In 2017, Ed fractured multiple vertebrae in his spine and doctors warned him that he may never walk again. He has since confounded that prediction and successfully completed numerous outdoor challenges, including walking the Pennine Way last summer to raise money for his Millimetres to Mountains Foundation. Berghaus will support Ed through his busy schedule planned for 2021. This includes a September trip with Leo Houlding to climb Mont Blanc and an October expedition to Himlung Himal, a 7,000m peak in Nepal, which Ed will attempt to summit to fundraise for the construction of a spinal unit in Chitwan Nepal.
IONA RENDALL
Iona Rendall is nurse and adventurer, and a keen spokesperson for the mental health benefits of time spent outdoors. Iona recently turned her walking group into a social enterprise that provides people with the skills and confidence to get outdoors. Berghaus will work with Iona to take her positive messages to a wider audience.
Janine Hearn, global head of brand for Berghaus, comments: "Rhiane, Zahrah, Ed and Iona are all inspirational individuals who epitomise the movement towards increasing diversity in the outdoors today, and the work that each of them does to achieve that is really important. Rhiane and Zahrah are at the vanguard in encouraging more people from black and Muslim communities to get into the hills and mountains, and Berghaus has both the resources and the will to help them. Ed demonstrates time and again that physical disability doesn't have to stop someone from exploring the outdoors, while Iona is a brilliant campaigner on the mental health benefits of getting into nature.
"We're excited about working with all four of them, and the rest of our athletes and ambassadors, on some major campaigns and product developments. As well as supporting their personal projects, one day soon we hope to bring all of our athletes and ambassadors together to share and discuss ideas and insights."
Find more content from Berghaus, its athletes and ambassadors at www.instagram.com/berghausofficial.
Comments
Yawn. Yet more vacuous marketing driven virtue signalling. Congratulations.
Yep - company supports some people who are promoting outdoor sports for health and wellbeing, particularly in groups who traditionally, for whatever reasons, haven't been involved in outdoor sports so much. At the same time, said company gets some good marketing coverage, and maybe sells some more waterproof coats to folks doing said outdoor sports, allowing them to make some profit, stay in business, pay some taxes and employ some people.
Outrageous innit?
I understand how a company talking about inclusion and diversity without doing anything could be viewed cynically.
However, that's far from what Berghaus are doing here. They're actually working with people who actively promote those values, with initiatives like Black Girls Hike, Hillwalking Hijabi, Millimetres to Mountains Foundation and mental health groups. In turn, they're supporting those initiatives and the good work they do - that's a far cry from 'virtue signalling'. Simply shouting down people who are attempting to do good work with simplistic labels could discourage them from doing that good work and is really counter-productive.
In reply to TobyA
Absolutely. Far more concerning is describing Chris Bonington as an "athlete". Truly outrageous.
I was wondering which would upset you the more Robert, the use of "athlete" or the use of "ambassador"? :)