IT crews take steps for Wetherby elderly support

A team of IT experts who marched an incredible 1.6 million steps in less than a month has donated its winnings to a Wetherby older persons’ charity.

Staff at Deans Computers (DCS) launched a Move in May incentive scheme in a bid to lose a few lockdown pounds and reignite team spirit after long months of working from home.

Now one of the winning teams - which clocked up 845 miles between just five people - has donated their prize pot to Wetherby in Support of the Elderly (WiSE), which helps isolated older people across Wetherby and its surrounding villages.

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Barry Rankin, Sales Director at DCS, said: “After 15 months working from home, we felt it would be great to run a scheme to get people involved in something that would get them out of their home and away from their desks, with chance to breathe the beautiful Yorkshire outdoors.

“It was also a way of getting people socialising again and promoting a bit of team spirit across different parts of the company.

“We set everyone a challenge of hitting 8,000 steps, 20 times across the 31 days in May.

“We felt this target was testing but achievable - and that even if the great British weather was dismal, you could still reach your goal.

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“We were delighted with the results, the enthusiasm and competition it provoked from everyone involved. We put up a prize pot of £300, which the best teams and individuals were able to donate to a charity of their choice.

“My team - Pimp My Stride - picked up a £75 second place prize and decided to donate it to WiSE.”

Mr Rankin added: “We’ve provided ICT support to the charity for many years so we understand what a wonderful local service they provide to vulnerable older people in our area.

“We also know that many of the older people WiSE helps will be missing the normality of getting together as they did before the pandemic, so we felt our donation would be especially appreciated at this difficult time.”

Five teams took part in the challenge with Pimp My Stride - made up of Guy Brook, Sarah Hanna, Andy Blacklock and Barry Rankin - finishing second with a step count of 1,628,504.

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