UK staff from the global manufacturer Curtiss-Wright showed their mettle by running, cycling, rowing and even fishing to raise hundreds of pounds for the Macmillan Unit in Christchurch. Curtiss-Wright UK launched its Wellbeing Challenge at the beginning of 2021 and pledged to donate £20 for every employee who agreed to take part in fundraising for the hospice and two other nominated charities.
Forty-one employees from its subsidiaries across the UK, including Christchurch, signed up and between them managed to run 2140 miles, cycle 285 miles, walk 3311 miles and row 126 miles during January and February.
Karen Moss, Senior Human Resources Manager for Curtiss-Wright UK said:
“We’ve been absolutely amazed at how people took up the challenge and literally ran with it. They covered a total of 5,862 miles, which is further than the distance from London to Los Angeles. And it wasn’t just running or walking; there were two Dry Januarys, 42lb in weight lost and three different species of coarse fish caught too!”
Robert Young from Ensbury Park, Bournemouth is a Repair Technician for Curtiss-Wright and came up with his own fishy-themed challenge. He said: “I decided to make catching fish my wellbeing challenge as it’s what I do best. I’ve given myself until the end of 2021 to catch six different specimen fish and photograph each one”.
“So far, I’ve caught three: a Barbel weighing 16lb 11oz from the Hampshire Avon, a 6lb 15oz Chub from the Dorset Stour and a 56lb 11oz Catfish from a local lake.”
Robert has been an angler for 55 years. He is sponsored by the company Gardner Tackle and has contributed to books and magazine about his catches. He added: “The challenge will probably take up my evenings, weekends and holidays for the rest of the year. But it makes me feel good to be helping the Macmillan Hospice and I’m hoping people will continue to support my fundraising at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Robert-Young46
Karen Moss said: “When we launched this company-wide challenge, we said we would award a prize to the top three achievements. But there have been so many achievements we instead decided to donate an extra £5 to charity for every participant – so a total of £25 per person. It’s been fantastic and we will definitely be doing the challenge again.”
Macmillan Caring Locally received £437.50 of the £1,025 raised for Curtiss-Wright’s nominated charities.
Macmillan Caring Locally Trust Secretary Neal Williams said:
“We feel extremely fortunate to have had the support of Curtiss-Wright and its employees for many years now. It is inspiring to see how they have supported their employees’ health and wellbeing during the lockdown months, while also supporting ours and other charities”.
“We hope their obvious enjoyment in doing so may inspire other businesses to consider something similar in support of the Macmillan Unit.”
Photo: HOOKED ON FUNDRAISING – Curtiss-Wright employee Robert Young from Ensbury Park, Bournemouth has given himself until the end of 2021 to catch six different specimen fish and photograph each one. Robert is seen here with a 56lb 11oz Catfish he caught from a local lake.
