Earlier this month, colleagues from across Halton Housing celebrated reaching Halton, in Ontario, Canada following a virtual walk, as part of the Big Team Challenge - Halton2Halton. 

The virtual challenge provided a fun and engaging way for colleagues to stay active, connected and motivated at a time when mental health and wellbeing has become increasingly important.  

Not settling for a shorter route across the Atlantic, the walk saw over 100 Halton Housing colleagues head across the globe on land, from Cheshire down to London, before heading across the English Channel and reaching Holland. From there we walked across Eastern Europe via Lithuania and Estonia. We then progressed across Russia, taking in the sights of Moscow, before trekking all the way through Alaska. We then followed the US/Canadian border before our final push as we headed through the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, down to Ontario to complete the 24,301.2km journey.   In all, colleagues clocked over 36 million steps, passing through 23 milestones along the way! 

After completing the challenge, we have made a £5,000 donation to Halton Haven Hospice.  

Eleanor Smith, Community Fundraiser at Halton Havel Hospice said: "What an amazing thing to do for Halton Haven Hospice and our community. We count ourselves incredibly lucky to have Halton Housing as such strong supporters of the Hospice and we are so grateful for everything that they do for us.  

This donation will make a huge difference and we know how much effort (and how many steps!) everyone who has taken part has put into this. So, on behalf of all those whom this money will help, I’d like to say a great big ‘THANK YOU’ for completing this challenge.”

To celebrate the achievement, a group of colleagues met with counterparts from Halton Community Housing Corporation based in Ontario, for a virtual welcome to Canada during a special Zoom call. 

Last year, saw colleagues walk 23,869.1 km to Halton in New South Wales Australia.