Photograph 1 (Left): (Left to Right) Georgia Lane (Forget Me Not), Gemma Wright (Reward), Sarah Humpreys (Forget Me Not), Elizabeth Harrison (Reward), Faye Murphy & Charlene Edwards (both Forget Me Not)
Photograph 2 (Right): (Left to Right) Steve Noble (Reward), Emma Bateson (Lancashire Mind) & Mike Calvert (Reward)
Having raised £20,000 for its chosen charities last year, Reward Finance Group, is going all out this year to try and beat that total, despite COVID-19 preventing several of its fundraising events from happening.
The two charities chosen by its Leeds and Manchester offices this year are, Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice in Huddersfield, and Lancashire Mind in Chorley; and fundraising has started in earnest.
It is therefore literally pushing the boundaries with its ‘Lockdown War of the Roses Race’ which pits the two offices against each other to see which one can raise the most money.
The challenge, which will start on Monday 15 June, is for each team to generate sponsorship by running, cycling or walking the equivalent mileage of their county boundaries. That means ‘Team Yorkshire’ will need to account for a minimum of 450 miles, with ‘Team Lancashire’ needing to complete at least 417 miles, before the ‘#RewardBoundariesChallenge’ ends at midnight on Sunday 28 June 2020.
Anyone can take up the challenge and offer their support to one of the teams. Those taking part will need to show evidence of the miles covered, by downloading one of the mileage apps onto their phones and to make it fair, cycle miles will be divided by three.
The results will be announced on Monday 29 June with a trophy for the team that achieves the highest number of miles above their minimum target.
In the meantime, Emma Cockerham, who works in the company’s Finance Team, came up with a great fundraising idea while everyone is working from home. She suggested that some, or all of the money people are saving on commuting, as well as takeaway coffees, lunchtime sandwiches, or even parking tickets, could be donated to the charities.
The Reward Team has given generously and has already raised over £1,500 on their JustGiving pages, with donations from travel to soya lattes, chicken schnitzels to sausage rolls and even garlic prawn pizzas! So, it’s just as well that the team are now working on the Reward Boundaries Challenge Race.
Speaking about the fundraising activities Nick Smith, Group MD of Reward Finance Group, said,
“Once again our teams have chosen two great charities to support this year. Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice in Huddersfield, nominated by Elizabeth Harrison, provides invaluable support to children and their families and Lancashire Mind, nominated by Mike Calvert, provides much needed support for those living with mental health conditions.
“We are going to have to go some distance to achieve last year’s totals, but both teams are really motivated to throw all their fundraising efforts behind such worthwhile causes. We would really appreciate anyone who can help us to reach our target. So, let the challenge begin.”
Gareth Pierce, Director of Income Generation at Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice, said:
“We’re delighted that Reward Finance Group has made us their chosen charity. Every year we need to generate over £4m, most of which needs to come from fundraising. Due to so many of our planned fundraising activities being postponed or cancelled due to COVID-19, we’re really in need of donations from the people within our community. We therefore wish the teams luck with their challenge and would like to thank them for their generosity in these uncertain times.”
Emma Bateson, Fundraising Lead at Lancashire Mind charity, said:
“COVID-19 has affected different people’s mental health very differently. This includes a lot of people experiencing mental distress for the first time, as well as those trying to manage an existing mental health condition at an incredibly difficult and uncertain time.
“As a result, Lancashire Mind have seen an increase in demand for our services as more people than ever reach out for help. We have, however, also seen a significant drop in our income through fundraising and we are now more so than ever reliant on the generosity of people who are able to make donations to us. We are so grateful to Reward for choosing to raise money for us. We’d like to extend our thanks to the teams and wish them luck in The Boundaries Challenge!”
For further information about both charities, how you can take up The Boundaries Challenge and to access the link for the JustGiving pages click here