Last week we were so proud as an organisation to complete our ‘Big Team Challenge’ to virtually walk from Halton in Cheshire, to Halton in New South Wales Australia.  This fantastic achievement culminated in a charitable donation of £5,000 to local hospice ‘Halton Haven’ which was delivered to them earlier today by three colleagues who completed the most steps.   

The initiative which we named ‘Halton2Halton’, saw colleagues take on the virtual walking challenge of a lifetime.  With over 35,000,000 steps, the journey took us through the snowy peaks of the Alps, the rugged plains and mountains of South Eastern Europe and then to Turkey, where East meets West. Travelling the last leg of the journey through the sunnier climate of Asia to our final destination Australia. Covering a total distance of 23,869.1 km, over 100 colleagues walked, cycled, and ran to collectively hit the target with the incentive of reaching Australia meaning a donation ‘Halton Haven’ hospice. 

👣We’re nearly there! Our Halton to Halton virtual #BigChallenge continues...more than 33,000,000 steps & we're currently in Milparinka, Australia! Big well done to you all!👏Next stop Halton Ridge!

Which charity will we be donating to when we get there?
🥁 😀Watch this space! pic.twitter.com/PaDbm0Fpi8

— Halton Housing (@HaltonHousing) March 17, 2021

We chose Halton Haven for the donation after asking colleagues to nominate a worthy charity close to their hearts.  Halton Haven provide palliative care to people whose illness is treatable but cannot be cured. The goal of palliative care is the achievement of the best quality of life for patients and their families. The donation will help Halton Haven continue to be a lifeline for the many patients and families they support throughout Halton and surrounding boroughs. 

It’s been a difficult twelve months for charities who have missed out on fundraising opportunities and events due to the pandemic and we hope their donation will go some way to support the vital care and services they provide. 

Ann Hedley, Head of Fundraising at Halton Haven Hospice said: 

"What an amazing thing to do for Halton Haven Hospice and our community. It’s been a very difficult year for everyone and to receive notification that Halton Housing’s colleagues have come together and raised so much for us was very humbling. We really appreciate this and on behalf of all those people whom this money will help I’d like to say a great big ‘THANK YOU.’ 

I’d also like to thank those who nominated us. The monies will make an incredible difference and we know how much effort everyone who has taken part has put into this. So well done everyone for completing this huge challenge.” 

As well as the donation, the virtual challenge provided a fun and engaging way for colleagues to stay active, connected and motivated at a time when mental health and well-being has become increasingly important. 

Karen Lopez, Organisational Development Officer who set up the challenge said: 

"This collective challenge was aimed at getting active and putting our daily exercise to good use by working towards a common goal that we could all celebrate together when we got there! It was really motivating – we even got families and pets joining in too to really create a sense of fun and involvement.” 

For further information about Halton Haven Hospice visit www.haltonhaven.org.uk