Four-woman team from Bellway takes on tough hiking challenge to raise thousands for Youth Adventure Trust

Four sales team members from homebuilder Bellway have raised £4,800 for an organisation that uses outdoor adventure to empower and support young people.

The women from Bellway’s Essex division, which is based in Chelmsford, faced more than 10 hours in fierce winds, rain and hail to complete the Housebuilder Challenge in aid of the Youth Adventure Trust (YAT), which this year was a 20-mile hike through the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

The annual fundraiser encourages people who work in the housebuilding industry to raise money for the trust, which helps young people to build resilience, develop confidence and self-esteem, learn life skills and achieve their full potential.

A total of 39 teams completed the challenge this year. The Bellway Essex team was one of the top fundraisers for the event and was awarded the prize for most resilient team at the gala dinner held afterwards.

Bellway Essex Sales Manager Laura Trigg was one of the four-woman team who took part. She said: “When we signed up for it a year ago it was initially about taking on a physical challenge, but when I explored the Youth Adventure Trust and found out about the great work that they do supporting young people it hit a nerve, and we really ramped up our fundraising.”

Laura took part in the challenge alongside Sales Office Manager Rebecca Lett, Sales Secretary Claire Hume and Sales Progressor Sophia Collopy – they were the only all-female team to take part in the event this year.

The women are friends as well as colleagues, having worked together for many years.  They trained together as often as they could throughout the year to get ready for the challenge and raised money through a bake sale and donations from fellow staff and sub-contractors.

On the day of the event, on Friday 12 September, they set off at 5am in cold and rainy conditions. Laura said: “It was harder mentally than physically, but we were geeing each other on the whole way and thinking about the wood burner and the bottle of prosecco at our Air BnB. The only dry bit of the day was just as we got to the finish line!

“When we finished, we were exhausted but so proud of ourselves. The four of us have always had a great bond, but we feel that even more strongly now.”

The team appreciated all the support from the YAT organisers especially Corporate Partnerships Manager Philippa Cox, who answered any questions they had on the day and helped put them at their ease.

The Youth Adventure Trust offers a range of programmes that include residential camps, day activities and one-to-one support with a strong emphasis on personal development. To find out more about the charity visit https://www.youthadventuretrust.org.uk/.

For information about Bellway Essex, visit https://www.bellway.co.uk/new-homes/essex.