A leading Leicestershire housebuilder is giving The Proclaimers a run for their money by walking over 570 miles, almost the length of the UK, to raise £100,000 for charity.
A team of colleagues from Coalville-based David Wilson Homes East Midlands joined forces with divisions across the country to take part in the second annual Big Barratt Hike, put together by Barratt Developments PLC to raise money for The Outward Bound Trust and Macmillan Cancer Support.
With a company-wide donation of £25,000, and Barratt PLC’s promise to match the amount raised, each charity will receive £50,000.
Due to current social distancing measures put in place because of the pandemic, Barratt Developments adapted this year’s fundraiser by making it virtual. This meant that each team member would take part in their own hike and add the distance covered to Strava, an exercise tracking app, to calculate the overall total.
David Thomas, Chief Executive of Barratt Developments, walked his way into the top five, covering 28 miles to earn his spot on the Barratt Developments leader board.
John Reddington, Managing Director of David Wilson Homes East Midlands, said: “In a time when many things are uncertain, we are extremely proud of our colleagues that took part in this year’s Big Barratt Hike.
“Their dedication to taking on the virtual challenge has resulted in an incredible amount of money being raised for each charity, and we know this donation will support them in continuing their important work.”
The funds raised by the Big Barratt Hike could enable nearly 1,500 young people to experience an outdoor learning adventure this academic year. It could also help fund a Macmillan nurse for just over 1,600 hours, or fund the Macmillan Support Line Centre for 119 days, providing support to people 365 days a year.
For more information about Macmillan Cancer Trust or The Outward Bound Trust visit www.macmillan.org.uk or www.outwardbound.org.uk
For more information about David Wilson Homes or any developments in the area, please visit www.dwh.co.uk.