When I say challenging, I don’t mean the fundraising, I am talking about the fabulous ways that our staff have taken on new challenges in aid of Teckels Animal Sanctuaries.
We are a firm where all the employees pull together in support of our corporate charities, but this first year for Teckels has shown that we are also ready to take on new challenges ourselves, no matter how out of comfort zone this may be.
Rachel swam the English Channel
Not the actual Channel, but the 21 miles as the crow flies which equated to 1352 lengths of a 25m swimming pool. This meant Rachel swimming just over 330 lengths every week!
The Randall & Payne team also supported her by contributing lengths to match the distance she swam, in effect the return swim! Her ‘support team’ included Adam, Alison, Ethan, Mel, Rob, and Ryan. They absolutely smashed their challenge as they went well over and swam 3,182! A fantastic effort, and all for a good cause raising £400.
Rachel said: ”I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone that took part and donated. It’s amazing to see the distance we all covered.”
Darts Doubles Fundraiser
We had enjoyed a couple of internal singles and doubles tournaments over the last year so decided to trial it as a fundraiser for the first time, as we had tested the format. I was delighted to have 16 teams sign up who joined us for the evening, along with some spectators too.
There was a range of skill and experience in the room, but everyone enjoyed the evening which got particularly tense towards the end. The tournament was ultimately won by one of our team, Josh and his mate Tom, with Nikki’s husband Mike and his mate Brian coming a close second! The event raised another £395 for the charity pot.
Run Cheltenham in September saw athletes of all abilities taking part in a Half Marathon, 10K or Community Mile
Ten colleagues and I were amongst the thousands of runners who donned their trainers and pounded the roads in and around Cheltenham raising money for charity by taking part in Run Cheltenham.
The suggestion was made at the end of 2023 when some of the more expert runners thought it would be a great way to raise funds for Teckels. Eight of us signed up for the Half Marathon and, personally I agreed to attempt the 10K along with a couple of others. I’m not a runner, having never run any distance or competitive race before, but thought it was time to stop saying I can’t, but maybe with some training I can!
We were mixed abilities, some having run before, some having never run, with varying levels of preparation needed beforehand, but we all agreed although not the easiest thing we have done it was rewarding to see that finish line and know that we had completed the challenge.
Despite the challenge of the unexpected sunshine challenge, we all achieved what we set out to, whether the Half or the 10k and raised a wonderful £1,110.
Congratulations to Rob, Will, Shaun, Ben, Andy, Ethan, Harvey and Harry for completing the Half and to Adam and Keiran who completed the 10K alongside me!
Would I do it again? I don’t think so, but as they say about childbirth, ‘you don’t think about the second child after just having the first’!
Fundraising activities for 2024 & 2025 for our charity partnership
Our 13th annual Quiz night with WSP solicitors took place in July at King Stanley Village Hall co-hosted by Rob with quiz master Faye Hatcher, ex BBC Radio Gloucestershire presenter and producer. Faye donated a Pet Portrait commission which was particularly relevant to Teckels and won by one of the WSP team members.
Skye from Teckels spoke to the room and we were surprised to learn the £45,000 monthly cost to run the sanctuary.
The overall winning team, named Shed 7, have been attending for many years. We are always grateful to the individuals and local businesses for the generous donations to the raffle which raised £685 of the £1,050 raised for Teckels and the same amount for Young Gloucestershire.
We will continue to do the activities which work year after year and help make up the pot we raise annually. As well as the quiz, these activities include the annual charity bake off, the monthly breakfast bap days, dress up and down days, book shop, Christmas Bazaar and a bonus ball sweepstake.
We had a staff meeting recently where we asked our staff to come up with some new fundraising ideas as it’s great to opportunity to spice things up and get different people engaged. We are looking forward to going through the many ideas that have been put forward and organising some different fundraising.
In the meantime, we are proud to end 2024 having raised an impressive £5,678. A heartfelt thank you to the clients, staff and their friends and families who have supported us and made this achievement possible.
About Teckels Animal Sanctuaries:
Teckels is a small independent charity based on the Bristol Road in Whitminster, Gloucestershire. The rescue and rehoming centre cares for and rehabilitates homeless cats and dogs and finds them forever homes. The staff have been very engaged and have brought along some of the dogs to meet us and are open to us visiting and helping at the centre. They have recently opened a charity shop at 17 Russell Street in Stroud.
Contact Jo Kline for more information by emailing marketing@randall-payne.co.uk or call 01242 776000.
