The end of March signalled the completion of the first quarter of fundraising at Miramar, all in aid of our charity partner, SPEAR. Over the last three months, Miramar have made a donation to SPEAR for each mile travelled, or each minute spent exercising by the Miramar team. We have been clocking up the miles, with the added benefit of keeping ourselves active and healthy, alongside supporting a wonderful cause. SPEAR provide aid to the homeless in and around South West London, where our Richmond head office is located.
We wanted to end March on a high, so we split into two groups of eight and set the collective target for each team to travel 215 miles, the length of the river Thames. Everything was to be recorded on Strava for all to see. To say the competition quickly got competitive was probably an understatement….. We saw team tactics, mind games, cheating allegations and an official investigation into the validity of indoor cycling equipment! Thankfully, WADA didn’t need to get involved.
Everyone gave it their all and at 23:59 on Sunday, both teams had amazingly each travelled exactly 314.4 miles, smashing the 215 mile target set. Some say it was underhand for the organiser to run 0.1 of a mile at 23:55 to make it a draw (!) but ultimately with it being so close (and no one wanting to do a countback), it was only right that the honours were shared.
The most important outcome was, in truth, nothing to do with winners and losers. Foremost, we’ve raised over £3,000 for SPEAR, which we hope will go a long way to help some of those who really need support in such difficult times. The challenge has motivated everyone across the entire business to keep active through a winter of lockdown, with the final competition creating an extra special level of communication and interaction that we have all missed so badly in the virtual world we currently live in.
This is only part one of a year of fundraising that we have embarked on, with Q2 ideas already being discussed. Needless to say we are incredibly proud of the efforts our staff have put in throughout the quarter and we know they will rise to whatever challenge comes next.
For more information on SPEAR and the work that they do, please visit: https://www.spearlondon.org/
