Encouraged by team captain Sophie McCurdy, strongly supported by Simon Bull, the team - which also included David Morbey, Maureen Hayes, Nigel Meddemmen, Debbie Moore, Andy Baldwin, Lydia Blackwood and Russell Lee - set out at 9am from Watford's Cassiobury Park and finished at 10.30pm. The total walking time was nine and a half hours (plus rest stops) and the route took them along the Grand Union Canal through Hemel Hempstead (11k), Tring (26k), Leighton Buzzard (40k) and finishing in Stoke Hammond.
"We finished together as a team and showed great morale and camaraderie throughout the walk - although we were very tired afterwards," admits Sophie. "It was an excellent team building experience and tested both our stamina and determination."
And it proved well worthwhile for the company's designated charities, as the exercise raised nearly £5,000 for Mind, The Mental Health Charity, and Macmillan Cancer Support - comfortably smashing the £3,000 target originally set. Many of the staff participating had known Martin Audio's popular sales and marketing director Rob Lingfield, who had sadly died of cancer four years earlier, and their personal walks were very much in his memory.
Of her weary band of brothers (and sisters), Sophie said, "I am incredibly proud of the team and send a huge thank you to everyone who supported us along the way. Mind and Macmillan are such fantastic charities - with 1 in 4 people affected by a mental health condition and so many likely to suffer the debilitating effects of cancer, it's an honour to have been able to contribute in a small way to their great work."
The team was well prepared, thanks to a coordinated (and undulating) training walk of 17 miles in the Surrey Downs with Mick Cain from Trek Hire UK; now Sophie is promising (threatening?) another similar adventure ... once the team has recovered!
With 101 donors so far - including great support from Martin Audio in both training and fundraising - sponsorship is still open via: http://virginmoneygiving.com/martinaudio.
(Jim Evans)
