4Com, an award- winning Telecoms communications company, with its UK HQ based in Bournemouth, took on a dual fundraising challenge to raise funds for MYTime Young Carers Charity and the Alzheimer’s Society. The popular staff challenge has, so far, raised an incredible £26,000 for the 2 charities.
Over 100 staff members from the business took on the initial challenge of a 24- hour virtual cycle ride, covering the distance from Paris to Bournemouth, but with the intention of carrying on and achieving as many miles as possible to maximise money raised. An incredible distance of 1700 kms was achieved, the equivalent of 2 round trips from Paris to Bournemouth!
4Com cyclists took 30- minute ‘shifts’ on the static bikes in order to achieve their goal and even determinedly cycled throughout the night. There were 4 bikes set up, with at least 1 bike always in action. Cyclists could even see their journey as it happened as the bikes were linked to a TV screen, which detailed the route. Staff within the business didn’t miss out on any of the journey as the action was live steamed to all 8 floors of the 4Com building.
Krista Cartlidge, Executive Director at MYTime Young Carers Charity kicked off the bike ride and put in a very credible ‘shift’, heading the leader board for some time with her performance.
4Com staff member, Mark Ashley joined Krista in her cycle shift and commented, “It’s really rewarding getting involved. I love cycling and doing it for 2 such great causes means achieving 2 4 1!”
The second fundraising challenged involved 6 engineer staff who completed a 15,000 skydive.
4Com Director Dean Cartledge advised, “Charity is an integral part of our business culture, it’s hugely important to us. We like to get the staff involved in our fundraising challenges and make them feel a part of each initiative. We are hugely proud of staff commitment shown for this virtual cycle challenge, with over 100 staff participating and many more making donations.”
MYTime Young Carers Charity Executive Director Krista Cartlidge enthused, “Wow, what a fantastic amount raised! A massive thank you to the incredible staff at 4Com for choosing to support MYTime with their virtual bike ride and skydiving event. Through the hard work and commitment shown by the staff at 4Com, MYTime will be able to provide young carers with a break at our outdoor centre in Worth Matravers. These breaks are an invaluable opportunity for young carers to have fun, make friends and to take some time out from their caring responsibilities.”
About 4Com
4Com was established in 1999 with the aim of improving the communications of the UK’s SME market. We became the world biggest reseller of Samsung Unified Communications products, before opting to become a Platinum Partner of HiHi; the industry-leading business phone with video functionality. We’re proud to have won and been finalists for a number of awards over the years. Our proudest achievement was winning The Sunday Times Best Companies to Work for in 2017, after being in the top 20 for the previous 4 years.
About MYTime Young Carers Charity
MYTime provides invaluable respite care and breaks for young carers (age 5 – 18) and their families at the charity’s outdoor activity centre at Worth Matravers in the Purbecks. The visits that are facilitated allow carers to take time out, have some much- needed fun and often forge long lasting friendships with other young carers.
About Alzheimers Society
Alzheimer’s Society is the only UK charity that campaigns for change, funds research to find a cure and supports people living with dementia today.
Dementia is the UK’s biggest killer. Someone develops it every three minutes and there’s currently no cure.
We know it is scary facing up to it, but we must confront the biggest health and social care challenge of our time.
Thanks to your support, Alzheimer’s Society is facing dementia head on. Whether you’re a fundraiser, donor, partner, or affected by dementia in any way, we’re working with you to build a movement. Inspired by your voices, we’re leading the way in support, society and research.
As the largest and most influential dementia charity in the UK, we are calling on everyone to unite. Working together we know we will achieve our vision – a world without dementia.