In it for the long run

On Saturday, the 29th of May I’ll be raising money for the In-Deep Community Task Force, running from Harringay, North London to Brighton, Sussex with my dear friend Jimi Mac.

With a grand total of just over three years running experience between us we’ll be spending around 14 hours side-by-side, crossing London, Surrey and Sussex.

The distance of 105 km (65 miles) equates to about two and a half marathons and the total elevation climbed on the day will be approximately 1,400 meters, more than four times the height of The Shard.

"How many calories does that all add up to, James?" I hear you ask. Well, that's a good question. It's over 8,000 which is around 15 Big Macs.

While we didn’t meet until our teens and in the secondary school playground, Jimi and I were both born in St Thomas’ Hospital, Lambeth.

In-Deep is a charity that works mainly with the elderly and children with special needs in both Westminster and Lambeth.

One of their main aims is to promote friendship in order to combat loneliness and isolation. The way they do things has changed since I made this visit but throughout the past year In-Deep has continued to provide support for those who need it most.

The task force has spent the past 12 months delivering over 1,000 lunches, 200 hampers and providing more than 1,500 befriending calls.

Supporting such a hands-on, grass-roots charity means the money goes a long way and has a great impact on communities such as those that In-Deep supports.

A massive thank you must go to TotallyMoney who match any staff fundraising to the tune of £500.

Additionally, the encouragement and freedom to set up social groups allowed us to start a TotallyMoney running club during the first lockdown of 2020. We elected senior engineer Tom Oakley as club captain who then recorded a recruitment video and called for runners and non-runners to join and TotallyRunning was born.

We started a Slack channel and Tom created a Strava integration that tallies everybody's kilometers each week. The non-competitive community focuses on tip-sharing, encouragement and progress.

With a flexible policy to working hours at TotallyMoney we’re able to start work a little later, finish a little earlier or take a longer lunch break if one needs to. Whether that be to stretch one's legs, focus on some life admin or to simply have some extra time away from the screen.

Another great addition to the TotallyMoney culture has been the introduction of the new twice-yearly Countit Challenge. Everybody is encouraged to cycle, run, swim and walk during a selected month. Exercise equals points and points are converted into pounds which are then donated to a local charity. This meant that in October we raised £1,317 for Hackney Foodbank while in March we raised £1,389 for the Maya Centre.

So, that’s enough of me running my mouth. Wish me luck and if you’re able to support the cause please feel free to do so either here or below.