On Sunday 1 June 2014, British Gas employees and their family and friends walked, jogged, and ran their way around the Nidderdale Way, raising thousands of pounds in support of housing and homeless charity Shelter.
376 trekkers were put through their paces completing either a 10km, half marathon, or marathon trek in the picturesque surrounds of Pateley Bridge, as part of the 2014 British Gas Treks Britain.
Every penny raised from the trek will go towards helping families struggling with bad housing and homelessness.
The latest government figures show that there are 475 homeless children living in temporary accommodation in the Yorkshire and the Humber region.
Shelter helps over three million people a year with housing problems by providing free online, phone and face to face advice.
The Harrogate trek, which is supported by British Gas partner, Capita, is one of six treks taking place in June right across the countryside. British Gas employees have so far raised an amazing £105,000 for Shelter through the treks.
British Gas Treks Britain is part of a major five year partnership between British Gas and Shelter to work together for better homes for Britain with the ambition to improve one million homes in the private rented sector.
Case study: The money raised will go towards helping more families facing homelessness, like Julia and her four year old son. They were made homeless after a flood in their rented home made the property uninhabitable, and they couldn’t find anywhere else they could afford to rent.
Julia and her son had to live in an emergency B&B; Julia said: When we were at the B&B I had to share a bed with my son, and we had to eat our meals on the bed or on the floor. It was so scary not knowing how long we were going to be in the B&B and what would happen to us next.
After living in the B&B for more than three months Julia called Shelter for advice. Shelter was able to help Julia to secure more suitable temporary accommodation.
Julia continued: I found out a lot through Shelter and if I hadn’t had that, I wouldn’t have known what to do. Thanks to Shelter, we can start getting our lives back on track now.
Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, said: It’s fantastic that so many British Gas employees are trekking across Britain in support of Shelter. With millions of people coming to Shelter for help every year, every penny counts when it comes to helping families across the country to find and keep a decent place to live.
The stunning backdrop of the North Yorkshire countryside would be enough to persuade anyone to put on a pair of walking boots, but knowing the money raised will go towards helping homeless families has been the real motivation for the trekkers to give it their all.
Stuart Rolland, Chief Operations Officer for British Gas, said: We’re delighted to have launched our Treks Britain event series in the beautiful Yorkshire countryside on Sunday.
It was a fantastic success and I’d like to say a huge thank you to all colleagues, friends and family members who took part in the trek and helped raise vital funds for Shelter.
Through the course of our five year partnership with Shelter our aim is to raise £1 million to help make a real difference to the many families and children across Britain who experience bad housing and homelessness.
