Good news comes in threes

First Nottingham fitness session.
We fear that Kilimanjaro will be tougher than this!

Another key day in our build up for three main reasons:

1) The first fitness session for the Nottingham Team took place today:
Twenty of us had an excellent session with Rachel and Jo from Intelligent Training Systems. They took us through a series of stretches and exercises to get us moving freely, and we heard how their online fitness tool could really help us. This was a great start to our fitness programme and should make our training even more effective in the weeks and months to come.

2) Hearing about fantastic fundraising activities:
Morag and Claire seem to be blazing a trail with their fundraising for Macmillan. They ran an evening dinner event on Monday that raised £3,000. Wow!
We are hearing about other great individual and team activities that are raising crucial funds for Macmillan. Including how colleagues from across the country are making great strides with their fundraising.
We will share more examples, and hints and tips, on a regular basis.

3) Our first PR coverage:
A Nottingham website features a summary of last Friday's activities to celebrate some of our achievements so far with Macmillan. Read the report here.
Our Kilimanjaro challenge gets a mention too.
This is hopefully the first of many pieces of coverage that we will get as our challenge gets closer.

We look forward to hearing more stories from teammates across the country, and sharing them via this blog.

Neil Jones
Boots UK

Brook’s first thoughts

Having received my launch pack, it all became very real! I moved through a ton of emotions, starting with fear, but quickly moving to pride, and quiet reflection on my reasons for participating in the challenge.

Being part of the team to climb Kilimanjaro has already meant changes to my life, beginning with Personal Training sessions and long countryside walks. I have found myself really gripped with a new healthier lifestyle, so much so, that I have signed up to ‘Toughmudder’ (a 12 mile special forces assault course) in June, and the Robin Hood Half Marathon in September. My mindset has been, if I can climb Kilimanjaro, then why not a half marathon!

What has inspired me the most, is how the team at Boots has really supported me, and Macmillan. The team I work in, have donated money, time, baked (and eaten) cakes, set up mini project teams to continue to raise awareness and funding. I really am privileged to work with such great people.

I am delighted to have received pledges and donations totalling £2,850 with my family, friends, Anytime Fitness Gym, and walking group all getting involved. Whilst most fundraising has been achieved by donations and pledges, I have planned several 'big nights in' along with picnics, a Miles for Macmillan walk, a half marathon, and am keen to work with my local Boots shops in Basingstoke to raise awareness and further sponsorship. I have set up a Facebook group to keep people informed of progress and future events, along with a newsletter for members of the family, who are less technology minded. It already feels like we have many more people walking beside us, as we climb, and as we raise our much needed sponsorship!

Brook Edmunds

Boots UK Space, Locations, Layout and Property Programme