A team of 12 employees from Nottingham based ITT Water and
Wastewater pulled on their hiking boots this month to complete a 52
mile edurance challenge for Sense, a charity that supports children
and adults that are deafblind.
The 24 hour trek across the ancient Ridgeway path of Oxfordshire
and Wiltshire took the team - which included ITT WWW Managing
Director, Peter Lewington - down one of the oldest roads in
Britain. The uneven terrain of the Oxfordshire downlands and the
secluded and overgrown woodland made the walking conditions tricky
and unpredictable, with the teams having to tread carefully as they
went. Despite this, the walk presented the trekkers with unrivalled
panoramic views of the English countryside as they passed areas of
natural beauty, wildlife and historic buildings".
The group of Midlanders were divided into three teams of four,
two of which battled on through the night in the race to finish
first. The other four members acted as the support team and were on
hand at the check points to offer clean socks, refreshments and
some much needed encouragement.
Adam Bond, Senior Proposals Engineer for ITT Water and
Wastewater comments:
"Sense is a charity that everyone at ITT WWW feels close to.
Having a colleague that lives and works with blindness has made us
all aware of the daily challenges faced by a person with a severe
visual impairment. When we heard about the Ridge Walk, we knew that
this was the perfect opportunity to show our support to the
charity, with a little healthy competition thrown in for good
measure.
"The trek became more mentally and physically challenging with
each hour, but our group's morale and determination helped us to
forge ahead. Despite the aches and pains , our spirits were high as
we crossed the finish within the 24 hour target. We are thrilled to
have been able to support such a worthy cause and will be looking
at other challenges of this sort once the blisters have
healed!"
As the sponsorships and donations continue to filter through,
the ITT WWW team are confident that they will have achieved their
goal of raising a grand total of over £3500 for Sense.
The 2011 Ridge Walk was organised by Global Adventure Challeges
which has been organising large scale fundraising events on behalf
of Sense since 2000.