Birmingham December 2009: Wednesday 16 December was a truly special day for seven members of Zurich's UKGI Broker Sales Management team, as they handed over a cheque for £9,000 to the Foundation for Conductive Education (FCE) in Birmingham, one of Zurich Cares' six national partners. The team raised an impressive £18,000 in total, making it the single biggest team fundraising event undertaken by Zurich employees in 2009.
The money was raised by John Meehan from Leeds, and six colleagues who battled through everything the British weather could throw at them on a gruelling coast to coast cycle ride from Whitehaven to Sunderland beach, in July this year. This involved covering 147 miles over two days.
John’s daughter Lydia, aged four, attends ‘Early Intervention’ sessions at the Foundation for Conductive Education in Moseley, and along with his colleagues, he organised the ride to help raise funds to help the Foundation continue its vital work.
John is the first to pay tribute to the mental tenacity and powers of endurance of his colleagues: “This was the most challenging event we had ever undertaken. Some of the hills we climbed were over 1700 metres, and the landscape over the moors reminded us of a never-ending roller coaster. We're all delighted to have raised a considerable sum to help the Foundation to carry on changing childrens’ lives for the better.”
Stewart Walker, Head of Sales - Broker, had this to say:"We agreed to accept the challenge over a few beers one night and then quickly realised just what we'd taken on! None of us had done much cycling previously and it quickly became apparent that a tough and dedicated approach to our training regime was required. However, the determination and resilience everyone demonstrated was simply first class. Knowing how much money we were likely to raise made us even more determined. FCE provides so much care for so many people that not finishing was simply not an option! Onto the next challenge ..."
The remaining £9,000 raised by the cycling challenge was awarded to Zurich Cares, the community involvement programme supported by Zurich employees in the UK.
The team was made up of: Stewart Walker, Darren Pacey, Neal Lumb, Jake Algar, Dave Christy, John Meehan, and John Dawson. Paul Meehan and Matthew Lawrance, John Meehan's uncle and cousin respectively also took part and the support team was made of Zurich employees Matthew Spence, Greg Wheatley and Andy Day.
