Counting steps and increasing activity levels during Stroke Awareness Month has resulted in staff from an independent trust company raising £2,380 for the Jersey Stroke Recovery Service.
The directors of Alex Picot Trust challenged staff to a month-long walking challenge and pledged to make a donation for every 5,000 steps recorded during Stroke Awareness Month in May 2021. In total the team reached almost 12 million steps in 31 days.
Alex Picot Trust has supported the stroke charity for several years and since 2017 has organised the annual staff walking challenge, which in total has generated over £8,000 in fundraising.
The 34 staff who took part in May were split into two teams to encourage healthy competition with some individuals setting their own personal challenges including, accountant, Agi Dzieciatkowska, who passed the million steps milestone.
The team lead by director, Hannah Roynon-Jones, counted 6,212,346 steps in total to claim a victory. She said:
“The steps challenge has become an important part of our annual charity calendar, not only does it promote the importance of being active, but it is a great team-building opportunity where we divide the office into two teams to go head-to-head with the shared goal of raising funds for charity.
“May is a good time to do this as it is Stroke Awareness Month and we were pleased to welcome Tracy O’Regan into the office to talk to us about stroke. She reminded us of the importance of a healthy lifestyle as a measure to avoid stroke, she also explained the significance of spotting a stroke quickly using the F.A.S.T. rule.
“At the end of the challenge we are thrilled to make this significant donation to the charity and thank all of our staff for going the extra mile to help boost our donation and look forward to next year.”
Tracy O’Regan of Jersey Stroke Association said:
“Stroke Association Jersey are grateful to the team at Alex Picot Trust for their efforts in raising funds for us during their annual STEPS challenge. Exercise is one of the ways to help reduce the risk of stroke and improve our own health and well-being, so a great initiative. The pandemic has affected our fundraising efforts but with the support from Alex Picot Trust we can reach more stroke survivors. Stroke strikes every 5 minutes and is a medical emergency. Thanks to everyone at Alex Picot Trust for ‘stepping out’ and supporting Stroke Association Jersey.”
