A dozen Newcastle Building Society colleagues have taken their fundraising efforts to new heights to bring in hundreds of pounds for a military charity.
The Society team took part in Walking With The Wounded’s Cumbrian Challenge, the charity’s annual flagship fundraising event which sees hundreds of people, organisations and companies taking one of three different routes through some of the Lake District’s most eye-catching and demanding scenery.
Eight members of the Society team completed a ten kilometre trek to the west of Grasmere and up to the 766m peak of Great Rigg, while four IT department colleagues took on a longer route, walking 26km, climbing more than 1,700m and reaching the peaks of five fells, including Fairfield, Seat Sandal and Grey Crag, in ten and a half hours.
The team’s fundraising efforts have so far brought in over £700, with more donations expected to follow.
Walking With The Wounded delivers employment, mental health and care coordination programmes in collaboration with the NHS to get those who served, and their families, whether mentally, socially or physically wounded, back on their feet and making a positive contribution to society once more.
The Society team’s participation in the event is part of a long-term partnership with the charity, which is helping Armed Forces veterans and their families build meaningful careers in the financial services sector.
The Society is investing £150,000 in supporting the charity’s employment programme and creating veteran employment opportunities within its own organisation.
It is expected that a significant number of veterans will secure sustainable, meaningful employment at the Society over the course of the initial five-year partnership.
Donna Stubbs, community manager at Newcastle Building Society, who took part in the event, says: “Our partnership with Walking With The Wounded provides benefits to everyone involved, with the experience and abilities of the veterans that have joined us very much enriching our working environment.
“The amazing weather during the challenge showed off the breathtaking Lakeland scenery at its very best, while the support and encouragement coming from the event marshals, volunteers and our fellow walkers helped keep us climbing when the going got tough.
“There were some aching bones and sore feet at the end of the day, but we all absolutely loved it and we’re already looking at what our next fundraising challenge might be.”
Tommy Watson, director of operations at Walking With The Wounded, added: “The Cumbrian Challenge is our headline event and each year we welcome hundreds of participants to the picturesque surroundings of Grasmere.
“We wanted to create and grow an event that brought together our supporters, our staff and our beneficiaries, and which epitomises the camaraderie, the struggles and the sense of achievement of what we do.
“We are so grateful to Newcastle Building Society who we not only have a long-term partnership with delivering meaningful careers in the financial services, but were also willing to take part in the challenge, get out of their comfort zone, rub shoulders with our team and raised an incredible amount of money.
The money raised enables us to continue to drive the expansion of our frontline staff, enabling them to support more veterans with employment and mental health programmes, changing lives.”
For further information on Walking With The Wounded, please visit www.walkingwiththewounded.org.uk