Company News

The Boys put on their running shoes in aid of Rose Road

March 2009 - On Sunday 8 March 2009, a merry band from CW Fellowes set out to Bridport, Dorset early in the morning for what could have been a nice 10k run in aid of Rose Road, Change My Life Appeal, but how wrong they were.

The challenges that lay ahead of them must have been conjured up just to spite the long distant runner. This merry band had a 7 mile run to undertake that was hindered by the following:

  • Countless steep hills caked in wet med (gradients bordering on the cliff like angle)
  • Bogs that at best would resemble a sheep dip filled up with liquid mud (causing in some cases the loss of shoes)
  • Wading, as running was impossible, through a river up to your waist with silt up to the knees.
  • Moving on from a river to waste deep mud, where many a good man got stuck until exterior help arrived. (The actual number of bodies lost in there will never be known)
  • Rope swings and rope climbs
  • Slides down greased up tarpaulin
  • The elements and
  • For those unlucky few, a badly placed electric fence which looked very enticing to hold on to and help pull yourself up the hill.

But as if that wasn’t bad enough on its own the above merely described lap 1 of 2.

Lap 2 was a rinse and repeat lap, but without the rinse part.

L-R: Oliver Rowe, Jason Dunn, Chris Whyton, Gary Essery, Kevin Lee and James HewittIn total the now mud clad, sod ridden, muscle tightening, energy sapped runners had run 7.5 miles across terrain that goes beyond the imagination but they still hadn’t finished. The final stretch was 100 meters over a pile of hay barrels, under a rope net and final over a wall twice the height of a man.

The first of CW Fellowes to cross the finish line was Jason Dunn in a fantastic time of 1:40, followed by Oliver Rowe and James Hewitt in a time of 2:05, Chris Whyton in 2:18, Gary Essery in 2:35 and Kevin Lee in 2:45.

Over the past 55 years, the Rose Road Association has worked with many hundreds of young people from across Hampshire and the south of England. The young people who attend Rose Road have complex and multiple disabilities, requiring a range of specialist care and equipment.

In order to carry out their work the money raised through fundraising activities makes a vital difference and helps to pay for transport, therapy and all of the other services which are so important, as well as helping the young people to enjoy themselves and have fun!

In early 2008, the Change My Life Appeal was launched. Through the Appeal Rose Road aim to raise £300,000, that’s £2,000 for each of the 150 young people who currently attend Rose Road. This would enable them to give the young children the opportunities they deserve as well as developing their key skills.

But that was just the start… Rose Road are now setting themselves a new target to raise £500,000 to do more to support not just the young people but also the families and carers of those who attend the centre. This will ensure that they are able to continue benefiting from the innovative and creative opportunities.

If you would like to find out more about the exciting challenge events that you can be part of to support the Change My Life Appeal then please visit www.roseroad.org.uk/changemylife/events or contact Emma Deabill, Fundraising officer on 023 8072 1203 or by email emmadeabill@roseroad.org.uk