As we are now halfway through the year, we thought we'd catch you up with how our fundraising efforts are going, as well as our progress on completing an ambitious 50 charity and community initiatives throughout the year.
Starting the year off with a bang!
We started the year as we meant to go on, kicking off with the SHINE charity balloon race supporting people affected by spina bifida or hydrocephalus, luckily there were no popped balloons as the race is virtual, and although team Hegarty didn’t win, we enjoyed watching our virtual balloon race across the sky! In January we also sponsored Circus Starr, providing free tickets for disadvantaged and disabled children, and hosted our own quiz night for staff and their families and friends to raise funds for our 4 charities of the year - Sports Connections Foundation in Peterborough, MindSpace in Stamford, Pepper’s A Safe Place in Oakham and Dementia Support in Market Deeping.
Giving something back
The team at Hegarty have also been making donations to local community causes around the area, with donations of essential foods to the Peterborough Soup Kitchen, Easter treats to The Little Miracles charity, and pet supplies to Mutts Nutts Rescue.
As well as donating items, our team has been out in the local community cleaning up, with staff from our Stamford office spending a morning carrying out a litter pick. We managed to fill 3 whole bags in just a couple of hours and members of the public were very appreciative, stopping us to say thank you. It is the little things like this that help make the places we live and work a nicer environment for all.
Celebrating community
We know how important local community events and initiatives are, and so we have been honoured to also sponsor several local events including: the Deeping Literary Festival which encourages reading and creativity to all through a host of informative and entertaining sessions; the Peterborough Celebrates Festival which celebrates the city through a weekend of family fun, highlighting our community’s cultural, music, diversity, and talents; the Bourne Picnic in the Park where we sponsored the face painting stand meaning that all children could have their face painted for free! We enjoyed being part of these great local events and seeing the local community come together to celebrate.
We are also volunteering with each of our 4 charities, giving our team the chance to help out and meet the volunteers and community members who benefit from these fantastic local charities. So far we have volunteered at the Mindspace open day in Stamford at their wellbeing garden. Their garden space is beautiful and is open to all as a place to take some time out, reconnect with nature, and maybe join one of their workshops hosted there.
Our team also volunteered with Dementia Support South Lincs at their Art Exhibition and talk helping those more vulnerable members of our community stay safe from scammers.
The Hegarty team helped to welcome people and bring the Dementia Support team their well-deserved teas and coffees.
We have plans to work with our other 2 charities, Pepper’s A Safe Place and Sports Connections Foundation later this year.
Team Hegarty challenges
Our goal this year is to raise £10,000 for our 4 local charities and we have organised two big events to help us on our way to this target.
Our Virtual Cycle Challenge took place in April and throughout the day, members of the Hegarty team hopped on a bike to do their part in completing our cycling challenge. The goal was to reach 111 miles in just 10 hours, the distance taking us on a virtual journey around our 4 offices; from Peterborough to Market Deeping and back, then to Stamford and back, and finally, to Oakham and back. After just 7 and a half hours we reached this goal, but we didn't stop there. With our new office in Bourne opening later this year, we added the distance to Bourne and back to Peterborough onto the journey and kept on pedalling until we reached the 10-hour mark. By the end of the day, the Hegarty team had reached an amazing 150 miles, smashing our initial target!
The Yorkshire 3 Peaks challenge was completed at the end of June by 15 members of the Hegarty team. The challenge is a 24-mile circular route with around 1600 meters of vertical ascent, all completed in under 12 hours. This trek involves scaling the peaks of Pen-y-Ghent, Whernside, and Ingleborough in the Yorkshire Dales. Our team of walkers set off bright and early, and after a gentle start, they came to a near-vertical ascent up to the first peak. They all reached a cloudy summit but the clouds started to clear as they made their way to the second peak through the town of Horton in Ribblesdale. The walk to the top of Peak 2, Pen-y-Ghent, was steep but had a good path to follow. This peak had what looked like a steep section to get to a plateau and the team had to scramble to get up with a significant drop-off right next to them! After a quick stop for lunch, the team pushed on to the final peak of Whernside. They ventured past the beautiful Ribblehead Viaduct and a little waterfall before starting the gentler ascent than the other peaks. Walking along the ridge line, the team could see the other 2 peaks they had just conquered and the viaduct down below amongst the stunning scenery of the Yorkshire Dales. The descent from Whernside was steep (dropping about 1,000 feet in a mile) but on a good path and from there it was only a couple of miles from back to their accommodation. The Hegarty team did an amazing job of this challenge and despite a few sore feet and some sunburn, were happy to have achieved the walk and raise money for 4 great charities at the same time.
What’s in store for the next 6 months?
The first half of the year has seen us complete 22 of our 50 community and charity initiatives and we have no plans to slow down. Our plans for the rest of this year include sponsoring more local events from the Deeping raft race and duck race to local sports teams and business awards. Additionally, we’ll be collecting donations from our staff to give to the Oakham Book Swap community initiative and later in the year to the Trussell Trust Food Banks.
Our team will also be busy with our plans to host our own charity sports day event, help plant trees with PECT, and volunteer to make and serve food with the Soup Kitchen.
With over £9,000 raised already, we hope to smash our target for the year of £10,000 for our charities. So, if you can, please donate to our causes and support our team on their fundraising mission: Hegarty at 50 - Hegarty