Russells Roof Tiles says it has “smashed” its original target of raising £5,000 for charity, by bringing in a whopping £9,000 following a 40-mile challenge by 40 staff across Hadrian’s Wall.
Staff from Russells, Lochmaben and Burton-on-Trent factories took part in a battle – starting at different sides of the country – to see who would be the first to get to a central point, with the final result being a draw.
The Lockerbie Legion (starting at Bowness to the West) and Burtoneers (starting at Wallsend to the East) raced across the wall’s length to The Twice Brewed Inn. The gruelling challenge took the teams a total of 20 hours and is said to have resulted in lots of blisters, minor injuries and lost toe-nails.
The significant triumph for the event was in almost doubling the target of £5,000 for the two Blood Bikes charities nominated: Dumfries & Galloway Blood Bikes (D&GBB) and Shropshire Staffordshire Cheshire Blood Bikes (SSBB).
Andrew Hayward, managing director at Russell Roof Tiles, commented: “I want to congratulate everyone for the fantastic achievement for themselves, the charities and the business.”
He continued: “No one at Russells has walked Hadrian’s Wall before so this was a huge and foreign challenge. But the staff are dedicated to fundraising; they soldiered through pulled muscles, tweaked knees and ankles and multiple blisters. What made it all worth it though was to see the huge smile on the Blood Bikers’ faces at the finish line. I want to thank them for making that journey to support us.”
Over the past year and a half, RusseIls’ fundraising efforts has included a charity golf day, football matches, a sponsored weight loss, a charity dancing competition, and its own version of the BBC sports competition programme “Superstars”. The hike reportedly proved to be the longest activity yet in terms of its duration and perhaps the most physically demanding.
