Carers and Individuals with Learning Disabilities Complete Charity Challenge
Colleagues and individuals at a specialist care provider in Greater Lincolnshire have helped to raise over £2,000 for charity by virtually covering the distance between Lincoln and Paris.
A parent of an individual supported by Home From Home Care organised the challenge, asking team members and individuals to cover the distance collectively by any means.
The participants chose to run, swim, jump or skip while logging the distances completed. Others chose to take part in activities such as boogie bingo to raise funds instead.
The initial target was for the Home From Home Care participants to cover 300 miles, roughly the distance between London and Paris, but they have gone above and beyond by covering over 391 miles – enough to cover the distance between Lincoln and Paris. The charities, Say Hello, Circles Network and Caverstede Nursery School, all support people with learning disabilities.
Liza Raby runs two hair salons in Peterborough and Bourne and is the parent of Spencer, who lives at a Home From Home Care residential home. She came up with the idea for the challenge as part of her role on her salon’s charity committee – which has raised over £120,000 in 15 years. The event was sponsored by Hings Group, who donated £600 to cover costs including t-shirts. Liza said:
“We normally do an annual charity ball but this year we’re doing lots of smaller events and fundraising activities instead. We’re doing things like a Halloween party, a bingo night and a bake sale, but we also wanted to do a fitness challenge. We had the idea to do a virtual London to Paris cycle, and that became London to Paris by any means – be it running, walking or skipping!
“Myself and some of the other committee members completed the London to Paris cycle and then challenged ourselves to come back! Collectively, including clients of the salon, we covered over 6,000 miles which is fantastic. It’s also been great to see the different homes across Home From Home Care getting involved as well and completing the challenge. Everyone joined together and encouraged each other so it was great to see.
“Our initial target was to raise £1,500 for our three charities during the challenge, but we’ve actually raised £2,330 so far which is amazing.”
The charities that will receive the funds all support people with learning disabilities. Say Hello helps adults with learning disabilities to overcome loneliness and social isolation by organising inclusive and fun activities in the community.