- Colleagues walked, cycled and ran 43,000km for charity
- Cycling event supported by world record endurance cyclist Jenny Graham
Colleagues and consultant partners at Spire Healthcare’s hospitals and clinics across England, Scotland and Wales have raised over £40,000 after walking, cycling and running almost 43,000 kilometres during Spire Healthcare’s 2023 charity focus week.
The ambition was for colleagues between 10 and 18 June to collectively cover 40,000km – which is the equivalent of circling the globe once – with all monies raised going to a range of local and national charities.
Individual hospitals managed their own fundraising events which included sponsored static bike challenges, walks, runs, sports days, and lots of traditional fundraising activities such as bake sales, raffles and quizzes.
There were also some excellent examples of community engagement, with colleagues at Spire Nottingham Hospital working with the local Tollerton Primary School, to raise £750 for its sensory room.
Spire’s charity focus week also included a two-day 110 km walk from Spire’s Regents Gate office in Reading to Spire’s Dorset Rise office in Central London, and a road cycle from Welwyn Garden City across 50km, 100km and 200km distances visiting Spire Bushey and Spire Harpenden Hospitals.
Over 30 charities were supported by hospitals, including MIND, Trussell Trust Watford Food Bank, Papyrus Prevention of Young Suicide, St Catherine’s Hospice, Rob Burrow Centre for Motor Neurone Disease Appeal, Alzheimer’s UK and the Stroke Association. Spire’s central functions colleagues chose to fundraise for Macmillan Cancer Support.
Charitable donations are still being accepted and can be made to MacMillan Cancer Support by donating online through our corporate JustGiving page.
Justin Ash, Chief Executive Officer at Spire Healthcare, said: “I’d like to thank colleagues and consultants for taking part in Spire’s 2023 Charity Focus Week and playing their part in fundraising an incredible £33,400 for a wide range of excellent causes.
“We firmly believe in the power of giving back to our local communities and making a positive impact on society. I am so proud of everyone’s work, support and physical efforts to make this such an important and successful week. I particularly want to thank families and friends for sponsoring and supporting us – we could not have achieved this without you.”
Matt Mather, Macmillan Relationship Fundraising Manager, said: “We are massively grateful to all the team at Spire Healthcare for the outstanding sum they have raised.
“Their donation of £6,500 could fund a Macmillan nurse for over five weeks or enable us to provide 19 Macmillan grants to people struggling with the financial impact of their diagnosis.
“Fantastic fundraisers like those at Spire Healthcare help ensure that Macmillan can continue to do whatever it takes to be there for everyone living with cancer.”
Zachary and Ashrith, representatives of Tollerton Primary School in Nottingham said: “We couldn’t believe Spire raised £750 – that is so much money! We are going to use most of the money to improve our sensory room and to buy an aquarium for our new library.
“Please thank everybody at Spire Nottingham Hospital – we really, really appreciate it.”
World record endurance cyclist Jenny Graham, joined Spire colleagues and consultants in the road and track cycle event, and was inspired by the enthusiasm of the Spire team: “I was thrilled to be invited to take part in Spire Healthcare’s 2023 charity fundraising event.
“This is the second time I’ve joined one of Spire’s charity events, so helping the teams reach this years’ goal of covering 40,000km was great fun and all for some fantastic causes.”
