Tough Mudders, walking and cakes helps suicide prevention charity
STAFF at a Reading-based housebuilder took on a Tough Mudder course and survived. The group walked and cycled 62 miles as they raised thousands of pounds for charity.
The employees from the Thames Valley section of Vistry – which builds homes under the Linden Homes and Bovis Homes brands – raised £7,000 in a series of events over 12 months to raise money for Papyrus, the company’s national chosen charity for 2022.
Papyrus is dedicated to the prevention of suicide, which is the biggest killer of people aged 35 and under in the UK.
It provides confidential support and advice to young people struggling with thoughts of suicide and anyone worried about a young person through its helpline, HOPELINEUK.
A team of 14 were sponsored to complete a Tough Mudder event last summer where they tackled a series of muddy obstacles over a course at the Badminton estate in South Gloucestershire.
And that wasn’t the only event they undertook to raise money for the charity.
The Vistry Voyage saw employees from across the country carry a commemorative book of awareness 1,163 miles from the North East of England to Cornwall while travelling using various forms of humanpowered transport.
Vistry Thames Valley’s managing director Trevor Wicks cycled the first part of the division’s section of the route from Marlborough to Kintbury, with operations director Lance Else riding the next stage to Aldermaston.
Land manager James Davis then cycled to the region’s head office in Reading, from where employees then walked two miles to Sonning Golf Club.
Senior land manager Fiona Harrison completed the final – and longest – section of the journey by bike to Windsor Castle where she passed the book of awareness to colleagues from Vistry Partnerships London.
Money was also raised by sales of home-made cakes in head office and on sites across the division, inspired by the
Great British Bake Off.
Alix Laflin, marketing manager at Vistry Thames Valley, said: “Our staff really did rise to the challenge to put themselves out of their comfort zones and help raise money for Papyrus. There were some sterling efforts by employees taking on the imposing Tough Mudder course at Badminton and those walking and cycling to help complete the Vistry Voyage challenge.
“The work that Papyrus does is especially poignant for us in this industry, as according to figures from the Office for National Statistics, more than 1,400 construction workers took their own lives between 2011 and 2015 and the suicide rate for the industry is estimated at more than three times the national average for men. So it means a lot to help this charity in our small way.”
The money raised by Vistry Thames Valley went towards the £257,862 total amassed by all Vistry Group divisions for Papyrus. Earl Sibley, Vistry’s Chief Operating Officer, gave a cheque for the total amount raised to Papyrus representatives.
A spokesperson for Papyrus said the amount raised by Vistry, which was £100,000 more than the target set, made it the most successful corporate partnership to date for the charity.
Amanda Scott Barbera, corporate fundraising manager at Papyrus, said: “The whole of Vistry Group and all their business units have been a delight to work with. Because the staff voted the charity in, everyone has been keen to get involved and the Group have been extremely generous.”