Employees from integrator Reliance High-Tech have embarked on a challenge to ‘virtually’ circumnavigate the UK mainland in 30 days using human power only. The Human Powered Travel Challenge ‘starts’ from the London Gateway; staff will run, walk, cycle, skip, row, even hop the 7,720 miles around the UK’s coast. Their progress will be recorded on a corporate fitness app and social media.
Some 60 from the firm have registered for this challenge, which began on September 26. After their first weekend, the team completed 792 miles, the equivalent of walking to Sunderland via the coast.
The aim is to raise funds for Reliance High-Tech’s chosen charity, the Blue Lamp Foundation. It was created in 2010 by PC David Rathband after he was shot at close range. This left him blind in both eyes. After an effort to overcome his injuries and adapt to his new life, David died aged 44. The Blue Lamp Foundation helps those from the emergency services who have been injured, physically or emotionally, in the line of duty. It provides funding and support towards, treatment, rehabilitation and out of pocket expenses.
This the firm’s first fundraiser since 2019, when employees scaled the equivalent height of Mount Everest using the stairs at its head office. They climbed 29,035ft after 605 ascents of the stairs and 45,980 steps within a month, raising funds for the UK military charity SSAFA.
Lead organiser of the challenge is the company’s director of finance, David Walton. He said: ‘We take the selection of our corporate charity very seriously. The incredible work that the Blue Lamp Foundation does to support emergency operational personnel from the UK’s police, fire and ambulance services who become injured whilst carrying out their duties was a perfect fit with our corporate social responsibility (CSR) ethos. We hope that as many people as possible can sponsor us in order to provide funds that continue David Rathband’s great work.’
