Each year we choose a charity of the year to focus our fundraising efforts on. For 2020/21 our chosen charity is Claire House.
Claire House
Claire House is a local charity that supports seriously and terminally ill children and their families. In December 1998 the charity opened Claire House Hospice and were able to support 10 families, they have expanded and now look after more than 400 families. They provide specialist nursing care along with emotional and practical support with the help of a team of trained professionals including nurses, physiotherapists, play specialists and counsellors.
Usually, we support our charity of the year with dress down days, bake sales, raffles and other fun activities but in 2020 with staff furloughed or working from home, we couldn’t do any of these things.
Fundraising in lockdown
We did our best in 2020 to try and fundraise in different ways. Our 10 for £10 challenge, weekly Zoom exercise class and festive dress week have all helped to add to our total raised so far for Claire House but we want to do more.
A mile a day for a year
On Monday 11th January, we are launching our new challenge – A Mile A Day For A Year. Our staff have signed up to try and walk, jog or run at least one mile every day for the next 365 days and will be raising funds by asking friends and family to sponsor them. In addition to this, for every person who makes it to 3, 6, 9 and 12 months without missing a day, Oliver & Co will pay an amount per person to Claire House.
You don’t have to know someone doing the challenge to donate, simply visit our JustGiving page and you can make a difference to Claire House.
Benefits of regular exercise
Doing a mile a day won’t just be helping Claire House, our staff will get great benefits too! A regular brisk walk can help to strengthen bones and muscles, improve balance and coordination and improve mood, it has been shown that physical activity can decrease feelings of stress, depression and anxiety. Walking just one mile can burn approximately 100 calories and only takes around 15 minutes.
Wish us luck!
We’re excited to get started with our latest challenge and will keep you posted on our social media with how we are getting on.
