Staff from the Finance Team at Dickies undertook a fitness feat between them last week, completing not one, not two, but three Ironman Challenges!

The Ironman is a triathlon comprising of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a full marathon of 26.2 miles to finish. Between them, the team of 23 set out to complete a 7.2-mile swim, a 336-mile bike ride, and 78-mile run or walk.

Many of the team surprised themselves, and beat their own personal targets to help the fundraising effort, gathering together on Thursday afternoon to walk the final part of their challenge with collection buckets. By then, they had already smashed their £1,000 target for the charity, Fletcher’s Fund, due to a staff member’s connection with the family.

The charity was set up in memory of Fletcher Fisher, who died before he was two-years-old from cancer in 2017. Determined to help other families and young children in isolation wards, Fletcher’s parents set up the fund to provide grants – specifically for families to have days out and create memories inbetween treatment. Fletcher’s Fund also provide age-appropriate arts and crafts bags for children who are in isolation in hospital, to give them something to enjoy during their stay.

Lisa Reynolds, from Dickies’ Finance team, told The Journal: “This was obviously a massive challenge for us, but in the spirit of keeping fit and getting active, we were all excited to be taking up the task, and raising money for a fabulous charity at the same time.

“Dickies is a company owned by the VF Corporation in America; they encourage us to be selfless, push boundaries and step outside of our comfort zone, whilst showing respect for others and considering those around us – and they will be matching our fundraising total.

“We would like to say a big thank you to First Edition Fitness, who loaned us a brand new exercise bike for the day; the Centurion Hotel, for allowing us to use the exercise bikes at the gym and the showers, and to Writhlington Leisure, who kindly let us swim for free.

“Thanks also to the local Sainsbury’s and Tesco stores, and Morrisons in Warminster, who donated vouchers which we used to buy ice-creams and then sold them in the warehouse, raising over £190!

“We’ve really enjoyed the challenge and we’ll probably do more!”

At the time of writing, the team had raised £1,166 and had upped their target to £1,250, including £185 raised by staff buying ice-cream!

For more information on Fletcher’s Fund, visit: www.fletchersfund.org.uk

To donate to Dickies’ fundraising effort, visit: https://wonderful.org/fundraiser/financeironmanchallenge2019-d16fb074