Journey to the Peak District

Over the summer, around 90 colleagues made the journey to the Peak District for a day of hiking, climbing and abseiling. After the terrible weather forecasts in the week leading up to the day, in the end we all managed to avoid being rained on which made the climbing and hiking (a bit) less slippery than expected.

Many thanks to Georgie Blears, Nicola Warren, Olivia Mechan, Justine Rae, and Amy Harker for all their hard work to bring about such a fantastic weekend!

We also held some Mini Charity Challenges that staff could get involved with at the office, including a British Summertime Bakesale and a office walk with riddles on how to get you to a particular city landmark. Staff had the option to guess the number of sweets in a jar and win a whole tub of Skittles!

And a little something for nostalgia. Inspired by a photo of a Norwich office typing competition in the 1990s shared on the innovation hub by Tracy Stevenson, we held an oldfashioned typing competition just like the one in this photo.

In support of Young Minds and DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal

This year we chose to support two charities. The firm voted for Young Minds as their first chosen charity, a leading mental health foundation that makes sure all young people can access the mental health support they need. They provide young people with tools to look after their mental health, such as counselling and therapy, and empower parents and adults to offer the best support they can through a parents’ helpline and webchat.

After the invasion of Ukraine, we also chose to support DEC (Disaster Emergency Committee) Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, a charity that hopes to aid the 13 million people displaced by the conflict. They deliver food, warm shelter, clean water and medical care to people in Ukraine as well as vital support to refugees in neighbouring countries. To date they have provided over 70,000 people with primary healthcare services and over 40,000 with hygiene kits.

Cal from Peak Mountaineering said “As I was out and about with various groups it was so lovely to see and hear some of the participants, who were a bit nervous, overcoming their fears and having a go at the climbing or abseiling. What a fun and social group your company are.”

With the support of clients, colleagues, family and friends, this year’s charity challengers managed to raise £9,588.87! This was matched by the Mills & Reeve Charitable Trust giving us a total of £19,177.74 for our chosen charities.