Bridgehead is Raising Funds for Parkinson's UK

It seems that not a single day goes by when there isn’t an exciting fundraising event taking place in one of our branches or an ambitious plan in the pipeline. This can certainly be said for our Bridgehead offices right now, as they’re in the middle of organising activity that requires plenty of drive, resilience and physical strength: the Three Peaks Challenge.

Abbie Steel is a reprographics operator, originally beginning her career at SGS Packaging Europe as an apprentice three years ago before successfully gaining her full-time permanent role: “I love the technicality of my job and having to work to specifications. The thing I like most about the company is the people within it, as everyone is very supportive towards one another and will happily give up time to help anyone with anything.”

Abbie was recently approached by site manager Mark Hooley, who said that a few people at Bridgehead had been wanting to do the Three Peaks Challenge for a long time and it would be a great opportunity to raise money for a worthy cause. Abbie liked the idea, especially because it’s even more adventurous than the 5K run that the branch had completed a few months ago in aid of Parkinson’s UK.  

“We’re supporting this charity again,” says Abbie. “A well-respected colleague here, who trained me as an apprentice, recently got diagnosed with Parkinson's. At work we see him suffer, with his arm shaking every day. Lots of us are close to him and want to show our support, and we believe that a physical challenge in aid of a relevant charity is the most effective way to do so.”

There are thirty people from Bridgehead taking part. A fair few of them, including Abbie, are from the production department, with other participants including retouchers, account managers, quality controllers, art workers and department managers. There are people as young as 16 who are apprentices, all the way to industry specialists in their fifties and upwards who have been with us for many years.

“I’m really looking forward to staying in the bunkhouse with everyone,” says Abbie. “It will be a good laugh and a chance for people to get to know each other more. The biggest challenge will be trying to keep us all going, as there’s a real variety of ages taking part, as well as people with different levels of strength. Trying to keep everyone going to the finish will be tough but I know we’ll do our best!”

Following a naturally rocky route that’s 24 miles long, including 5,200 feet of ascent and a trio of lofty summits, the Three Peaks Challenge really does live up to its name. To prepare, some of the fundraisers have committed to regular gym sessions, whilst others are getting fit by running and taking long walks in their spare time. One colleague in particular completed a six-mile walk and is now aiming for ten, slowly building up to the event in June. Abbie is also arranging group training sessions, which will thoroughly prepare everyone as well as bring them together for some valuable team building.

We asked Abbie to share some advice for everyone taking part: “Expect and prepare for the worst. Have all the equipment needed and do plenty of training beforehand to stand a good chance of completing it. You can do it!”

If you’d like to donate to our this, every penny added to the group’s JustGiving page will be greatly appreciated.

There’s all kinds of charitable activity taking place across SGS Packaging Europe’s offices, so keep up to date by following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.