Abingdon Specsavers set themselves a September fundraising challenge to see if they could cover the same distance between Lands’ End to John O’Groats.
The total distance between the most northern part of the UK to the most southern, is a staggering 900 miles. Alex Bell, who organised the challenge for her colleagues, worked out that to complete it each staff member would need to walk 56.25 miles over the course of the month.
Everyone taking part recorded their steps on Strava (a fitness tracking app) which gave an overall group total as well as an individual score to track their progress. The challenge encouraged everyone to get outside for a walk or run, and to try new ways to incorporate physical activity into their everyday life. Alex shared “I usually drive to work but since doing the challenge I started walking to make sure I got my steps in!”. Alex also mentioned Atul, a director at Specsavers, said that the challenge had encouraged him to start running and he can now run 5 miles!
Impressively, the team not only hit their goal but managed to cover over 1000 miles within the month. They celebrated their achievement with a final team walk around Abingdon Meadows.
Mental Health at work
Abingdon Specsavers used the challenge to promote good mental health practices at their workplace and also set up a fundraising page to help raise funds for Oxfordshire Mind. They raised an incredible £1,022!
“The challenge has improved our own mental health whilst raising money for an amazing charity. It’s made us all much more active and wanting to continue the exercise even now the challenge has finished. It’s something we’ll do again in the future and will continue to support Mind. We chose to support Oxfordshire Mind as they help so many different people, especially coming out of lockdown where we all know so many people who have struggled. It’s incredible hearing about all of the amazing work they do within the community too!”
Alex Bell
A huge thank you to Abingdon Specsavers for their incredible fundraising efforts.
If you would like some more information about how getting active can help improve your mental health, you can find more details on our website here.
Has this inspired your organisation or team to take on a challenge of your own in support of Oxfordshire Mind?
Get in contact to see how: corporatepartnerships@oxfordshiremind.org.uk