Staff from North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust’s Crisis Care Centre are currently undertaking an ambitious challenge to walk (or run, or cycle) the equivalent of the UK coastline – over 11,000 miles – to raise funds for charity and for equipment for the Centre.
Bethany Edwards, the Centre’s STR Pathway Lead, who has organised the fundraising drive, explains more:
“Following the announcement of the third Lockdown in January, as a team we reflected on just how tough the combination of home schooling, working, and not seeing family and friends was, and we spoke about how in the initial lockdowns there was a sense of camaraderie completing home workouts, Zoom quizzes and the weather was just generally much nicer. We felt we needed something to bring us together, take our minds off it and to reinvigorate that sense of community, and with this the challenge was born – with some inspiration off the internet!
“The whole of the Crisis Care Centre is doing brilliantly. We currently have around 30 practitioners and have walked 3,452.9 miles in just over 30 days. Whilst we thought about placing a time frame on this, we have decided that achieving the whole distance of just over 11,000 miles will be a challenge in itself.
“We do not have an individual walking or equivalent target, everyone is just doing what they are capable of as a collective effort. We are all using a Fitbit Challenge to record our distance, there’s some members of staff that have walked a phenomenal amount of miles, and staff are using their breaks to get up and get active, finding that three laps of the road surrounding Harplands is equivalent to a mile!
“We’ve had drenched staff, lost staff, and staff getting stuck in mud all along the way – abiding by social distancing and Lockdown government conditions of course, and keeping a smile on no matter what the weather!”
As well as raising funds to equip the Centre with sensory equipment which could be used in a multitude of ways by service users, half of the fundraising total raised will go to the miscarriage, stillbirth and child loss charity 4Louis.
“At the beginning of Lockdown last year, a close friend lost her baby and 4Louis was able to provide a memory box enabling my friend and her husband to make cherished memories and comfort in a time they most needed,” said Bethany. “I’d never heard of this charity before, but hearing just how much it meant to my friend and speaking to friends and colleagues who’d been through similar experiences it became apparent they are an unsung service. With the money raised we hope this will go to more memory boxes for other families and to remember Baby Freya. So far we have raised £290 via our GoFundMe page.”
To make a donation to the Centre’s fundraiser, please click here