Business Strategies ‘Go Beyond’ the call of duty to raise money for charity
A 16-strong team from Experian Business Strategies has raised over £2,000 for charity after taking part in a gruelling orienteering event in Northamptonshire.
The gang completed the 18-mile ‘Go Beyond Challenge’ as a team-building exercise, but took the opportunity to raise sponsorship for Teach Africa - an organisation that provides secondary education to children living in the slum areas of the Kenyan city of Nairobi.
Event organiser Caroline Johnson, Head of Customer and Spatial Analysis, said: “We are often quite desk-based in our roles, so we wanted to do something that would get us out of the office, challenge us physically and mentally and test our skills at working together.
“One of our colleagues had heard that the Go Beyond team was just setting up, and we were able to act as something of a pilot group for them.”
The day began with some advice and training over breakfast before the 16 split into teams of four and set off at staggered starts. Traversing countryside, they all had to navigate to a series of checkpoints, and at each a puzzle awaited, which if successfully completed, carried a time bonus of 30 minutes.
Caroline said: “Some of the teams took their time, while others ran through it – but we were always close enough to be looking over our shoulders!”
Zoe Rusk, Business Analyst, admitted she had trained for the day, walking 12 mile distances to prepare herself for the challenge. She said: “It pushed us to the edge of our endurance levels – but we all supported each other when we needed it.
"And more than that, when the teams came across each other we were able to work together, providing help and assistance when needed; this showed that we where able to put aside our singular goals for the benefit of our CSA team as a whole.”
Pictured above: Team 3 takes a well earned rest! From left: Dave Stevens, Dannielle Vanpraag and Zoe Rusk.
Colleague Ben Taylor added: ‘The event was challenging but at the same time thoroughly enjoyable and I would encourage anyone to take part in something similar, regardless of their fitness levels. The day taught us a number of important skills, particularly how to work well as a team, and we will be able to transfer these skills back to the working environment.”
The team would like to thank everyone who sponsored them – further information on the work done by Teach Africa is available by following the link on the right hand side.
Pictured below: Dannielle Vanpraag crosses the finish line.
Team 1: Caroline Johnson, Ben Taylor, Tony Hunt and Rob Nason.
Team 2: Sam Meek, Nilesh Mistry, Charlotte Gilks, Rebecca Smith.
Team 3: Andy Metherell, Dannielle Vanpraag, Zoe Rusk, Dave Stevens.
Team 4: Martin Summerscales, Ketana Mistry, Dave Pyrah and Ruth Ellerby.
