GTR staff cover over 800 miles for NHS

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To raise cash for NHS staff and volunteers caring for Covid-19 patients, a group of railway workers has cycled, walked and jogged a total distance of more than 800 miles.

All members of GTR’s train presentation team, the eight colleagues came up with the idea of covering the distance from the most northern depots on the GTR network in Bedford and Peterborough, down to the depots in Littlehampton and Bognor Regis in the south west and Brighton and Eastbourne in the south east – a total of 349 miles.

Adhering to Government guidelines at the time, each colleague exercised in their local area and logged their distance on running application Strava. However, in just two weeks they far exceeded 349 miles and instead covered an impressive 838.5 miles – the equivalent of travelling from Land’s End in Penzance to John O’Groats in the far north of Scotland.

They also beat their fundraising target of £1,000 for the NHS Charities Together by raising £1,880.

The team consisted of Anthony Dowsett, based at the Brighton and Eastbourne depots; James Canty, based at Littlehampton and Bognor Regis depots; Janine Foulger and Daniel Odgers at Bedford; Simon Beal at Littlehampton; Emilia Zawisza at Cricklewood; and Allison Welsh and Arun James, who are both based at the Selhurst depot.

Train presentation manager, Anthony Dowsett, 48, said: “We are full of admiration for the amazing work everyone at the NHS is doing, and as fellow key workers we wanted to show our support for them.

“Covering hundreds of miles has been both challenging and great fun. It’s spurred us on to up our fitness levels and it’s been incredibly rewarding to have smashed our fundraising target for NHS Charities Together.”

To donate, visit their JustGiving page.

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