Tour de Barchester – Care Home Staff Raise Thousands Through Mammoth Cycling Challenge
Staff from Barchester Healthcare’s care homes up and down the country tested their mettle by taking on a mammoth 211 mile cycling challenge in intense heat. The route started in Bradford and finished four days later in London with the team fund-raising all the way. All money generated from the initiative has been donated to Barchester’s Charitable Foundation which supports older people and other adults living with a disability or mental health problems by helping them to connect or re-connect with others in their local communities.
Over four days, from July 5th- 8th, the team of care home workers and directors cycled from Yorkshire to London, stopping at 15 care homes and one hospital across all four of Barchester’s divisions. At every service, they were met with a rapturous welcome from staff and residents who had organised fund-raising events with all kinds of entertainment, from steel bands to fancy dress, chocolate fountains to residents on static bikes matching them mile for mile – the homes pulled out all the stops to show their support and help raise funds. The total raised so far is over £15,000 with more still to come.
The core Tour de Barchester team of Simon McCall, Commercial Director, Genevieve Glover, HR Director, Tony Woollett, Recruitment Director and Shona Conway, Project Coordinator were joined by staff members from different homes and divisions as the Tour passed through making the whole tour a fantastic Barchester team effort.
Shona Conway, Tour de Barchester Project Coordinator said:
“I can honestly say I loved every second of the Tour. I am going to be saddle-sore for a while but, despite that and the heatwave conditions, it was a fantastic experience. We all loved touring around our services and meeting so many amazing members of our staff and their residents, everyone made us so welcome, and we raised thousands of pounds into the bargain. I can’t wait to do it all again next year!”
Dr Pete Calveley, CEO of Barchester, commented: “The team here at Barchester never ceases to amaze me. Their passion, drive and determination is so inspiring. To see our team members take on wonderful challenges like this, on top of their day jobs, fills me with pride. As Chairman of Barchester’s Charitable Foundation, I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who took part in this initiative and everyone who supported it. We will do so much good with this money, helping people cope with isolation and loneliness through very many grants that we will now be able to give to good causes all over the country.”
