From a trek through the night to a water assault course, staff at the University of Worcester will be pushing themselves to the limit in a gruelling 24-hour challenge to raise money for a good cause.
The University’s Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive, Professor David Green CBE DL (right of centre) and Challenge organiser Tom Taylor, the University's Assistant Director of Estates - Security and Operations (left of centre), with some of the competitors from the different teams
The University’s latest Charity Challenge will see teams compete to complete in a series of activities, including an 19 mile walk from the Malvern Hills to Broomhall, followed by a 15 mile canoe from Broomhall (Severn Motor Yacht Club) to Tewkesbury Marina, a 19 mile cross country run, a basketball match and a water assault course. It starts on Friday June 4, at 7pm, and will run over 24 hours, finishing at 7pm the next day (Saturday June 5) at the University’s Lakeside Campus, at Holt Heath.
Activities take place at University of Worcester venues, but also on routes around Worcestershire. The Challenge aims to raise more than £10,000 for this year’s Charity of the Year, blood cancer charity Cure Leukaemia.
Nine teams are taking part - seven University teams, including one from the Students’ Union, and a further two from external organisations associated with the University: Travis Perkins and a mixed team which includes members of Worcestershire County Council. Teams’ competitors must complete at least three of the events and the amount teams raise will also be factored in. Colleagues in the University’s School of Sport and Exercise Science have provided expert advice around the activities, as well as offering to support teams with training plans and ensuring an adequate level of fitness in competitors. Originally planned for last summer, the event was rescheduled due to Covid-19.
Cure Leukaemia was chosen as the University’s Charity of Year by staff who had heard about the remarkable story of University of Worcester Nursing graduate, Brooke Evans. Brooke now works as a haematology nurse at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in the same building where she received life-saving treatment five years earlier, and has been raising awareness and funds for the Birmingham-based charity for a number of years.
This will be the University’s fourth Charity Challenge, which have included a 100 mile cycle, canoe, run, swim and tractor pull; a trek along Hadrian’s Wall; and the Three Peaks Challenge.
Organiser Tom Taylor, the University's Assistant Director of Estates - Security and Operations, said: “Every time we put on the Charity Challenge we try to create something different that will push staff and this year is certainly no exception. Though we have swapped some of the events from the last Challenge, in other areas the difficulty has increased and it will be a test of both physical and mental strength, particularly due to the fact it is all being done in a 24-hour period. We hope that the scale of what competitors are facing will inspire people to give what they can and, if people should spot our brave participants either on the river or while out walking around Worcestershire, be sure to cheer them on!”
The University’s Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive, Professor David Green CBE DL, said: “This year the University’s Charity Challenge again supports a Charity which has made a real difference to a student. The annual Charity Challenge is a wonderful initiative. The lengths that colleagues are going to to put this on again now are truly extraordinary. The University is very proud of all those competing and providing support along the way.”
To donate to the challenge visit the Justgiving page.