We spoke with Jacquie Sutherland, Inclusion & Diversity, Health & Wellbeing Consultant at Heineken to find out about their amazing challenge which raised a whopping £21,000 for York Mind

"The last year has been really tough for people, including many of our colleagues. And as we went into a third lockdown we wanted to find a way to energise our colleagues and galvanise them behind a common purpose and goal, while improving their physical and mental wellbeing. So we challenged them to walk enough steps to help us build a virtual pub and raise £21,000 for York Mind. We designed the challenge so everyone could get involved – any wellbeing activity counted whether that was walking, cycling, meditating, yoga or dancing. In the end we had 571 colleagues take part, logging the equivalent of 132,500,000 steps – that’s 2.5 times round the world!

We chose to raise the funds for York Mind for a couple of reasons. HEINEKEN has a long history of supporting the communities in which we operate and in which our colleagues live and work. And with a brewery in Tadcaster, we’ve close ties to York. We’re also a long standing supporter of Mind and the important work they do. Local centres like York Mind are an essential lifeline for those struggling with a mental health issue and we hope our donation will help them reach more people in need"

We are amazed by Heineken's support and loved their challenge, which enabled their whole team to be involved. This generous donation  means so much us and all the local people we are able to support.

Whilst we affiliate to the national ‘Mind’ brand, we are a independently funded, local charity, who rely on our amazing community supporters, generous donors and local businesses to be able to continue our vital work; supporting individuals suffering from mental ill-health and helping progress them towards recovery and social inclusion. We provide both one to one Counselling and group based support but also provide Advocacy, Mental Health Training, Activity Groups, Action Towards Inclusion Project, Thriving at Work Project and Young People’s services.

To find out more about how you can be involved email fundraising@yorkmind.org.uk

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