Having spent so much time in lockdown, working from home and being unable to put on fundraising events in 2020, here at Oliver & Co Solicitors, we started 2021 wanting to do something special for our charity of the year, Claire House. On Monday, 11th January 2021, 50 employees began a challenge that would last one whole year. They pledged that, come rain or shine, they would get up, go outside and walk, jog or run at least one mile every day for 365 days.
An easy task?
This seemed like an easy task and many taking part thought it wasn’t enough of a challenge – a mile a day is easy, right? Well they soon found out that it was actually quite a taxing challenge. Over the course of a year a lot goes on, there are days when you are so busy there’s barely time to think, there is illness and injury and sometimes just trying to remember you have to go out and get the mile a day done can be difficult. The challenge was made all the more difficult for those working from home, as there was no walking to work to help them complete their mile and any people who were having to self-isolate had to resort to doing laps in their garden.
3 month checkpoint
As a firm, Oliver & Co Solicitors pledged to donate money for each person who made it to the 3 month, 6 month, 9 month and 12 month checkpoints.
We started out with 50 participants but starting in January, like a lot of New Year’s resolutions, the daily mile didn’t stick for some people. The weather wasn’t kind to us in January. It was freezing cold and it was icy underfoot and so in the first 3 months we lost 20 participants. So with 30 people still in the challenge, Oliver & Co donated £300.00 to Claire House. £10/person.
6 month checkpoint
Once people had made it to the 3 month checkpoint, they were fully committed and so by the 6 month mark we only lost 4 more people. These were people who had either left the company for new pastures or had been unable to complete their daily miles due to illness. So with 26 people still in the challenge, the firm donated a further £260.00 to Claire House.
9 month checkpoint
By this point the mile was ingrained in our daily life and as lockdown restrictions eased we were able to do miles on holiday or explore further afield and not simply walk the same route around the block. We only had 3 further dropouts by the 9 month point and so a further £230.00 was donated to Claire House for the 23 people still going out for their daily mile.
12 month finish
The last 3 months have put us back into the miserable weather along with the cold and flu season. Despite this, we only had a further 3 people who weren’t able to complete the full year. So, with 20 people completing the full year and a minimum of 9,022 miles walked, jog or run over the last 365 days, Oliver & Co Solicitors have made a donation of £50.00 per person making further £1,000 donation to Claire House.
Sponsorship and donations
In addition to the donations made by the firm, to date our mile a day participants have been collecting sponsorship from friends and family and the total raised for Claire House, solely from our mile a day challenge is £2,840.00 including gift aid and there are still further donations coming in!
If you would like to donate to our challenge for this fabulous cause, it’s not too late. Simply head over to our JustGiving page where you can donate any amount quickly and easily.
We are extremely proud of all those who took part in the challenge. It has been another difficult year for everyone and we are so pleased we have been able to raise these funds for Claire House.
An amazing cause
David Owen Director said; “This has been a great challenge for an absolutely amazing cause. During those days when the weather has been awful the motivation for the participants to keep going and getting their mile a day in, has been the fact that much needed money is being raised for Claire House. Oliver & Co are delighted that so many Oliver & Co employees participated in the challenge.”
Claire House is an amazing charity and they have been keeping up with the progress of our challenge all year long. They said; “Over the past year at Claire House, we’ve had to continue to adapt to the ever changing Covid situation, on what feels like a daily basis. We’ve carried on providing support to over 400 families throughout 2021 in spite of these challenges. Oliver & Co’s incredible support throughout the year makes our work possible. From the moment they chose to support Claire House, their staff have been so committed to our cause and the completion of their mile a day challenge sums this up. Their huge team effort will have such a positive impact on our families lives.”
