A team from our Worcester office got together on 30 September to support a local hospice, St Richard’s Hospice, for their annual Paddle, Plod & Pedal. The fundraising event follows a 35-mile route through Worcestershire countryside along the Rivers Avon and Severn and quiet country lanes.
Sarah Eastbury, Joanne Millward, Natalie Nyland, Aimi Boaz, Agatha Hazelgrove, Izzy Speakman, and Stephen Holloway rallied a couple of extra willing volunteers to make up their team of ten to paddle from Pershore to Tewkesbury, walk onto Severn Stoke and then cycle back to Pershore Football club.
Seven teams took on the challenge with each element covering between 10 and 12 miles. Sarah Eastbury who organised the event said: “St. Richard’s Hospice is a local charity, and we enjoy supporting them as much as we can. The Paddle, Plod and Pedal event was a fantastic team-building exercise, and it is great to know we are supporting a local charity.”
We launched our Volunteering & Pro Bono Policy last summer which gives colleagues up to two days of paid volunteer leave every year. Over the last 12 months, colleagues have been using their volunteering leave to participate in a range of community and charity-focused activities as part of our approach to being a responsible business. Since then, colleagues have volunteered more than 280 hours of their time to support community initiatives.
Partner, Jason Clines, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be able to support St. Richards Hospice with all the amazing work they do to enable them to provide care and support to their patients and their families. Well done to our paddle, plod and pedal team, an amazing effort.”
Last Christmas, a group of colleagues in our Worcester office used their volunteer leave to spend a few hours at St Richard’s Hospice, putting up their Christmas decorations and talking to inpatients. Sarah Eastbury, who took part, said: “I think I can speak for everyone who attended that we all had a wonderful time. We worked in groups to hang garlands and decorate Christmas trees in their peaceful garden so that every patient had one in view. It was a great opportunity to bond as a team without cost while giving back to an amazing charity. They put on a lovely lunch for us and were so grateful, the chairman came to thank us personally.”
We also sponsor the Lights of Love event each year when hundreds of lights are lit in memory and celebration of loved ones during the festive season. For almost two decades St Richard’s has held Lights of Love church services and events in Worcestershire. From the Autumn, people are invited to donate to the care of St Richard’s and dedicate a Light of Love to celebrate or remember someone special. Lights will shine out from the hospice Christmas tree at St Andrew’s Spire, Worcester, during the festive season and dedicated names will be published on banners around the city landmark.
There will be two Lights of Love events on Friday, 17 November 2023 at Worcester Cathedral one at 2.30pm and the evening one at 7pm. The evening service is then followed by a light switch on at the Spire. Click here for more information.
