Twelve teams from BAM Nuttall, Ground Engineering, Enterprisemouchel, Fairhurst, Glenigan, Kingspan Leo, Network Rail, Crossrail West, Ramboll, and more turned out, ready to challenge themselves and challenge poverty. The day began early, with teams assembling at 7am to begin a 14 mile mountain biking route across heathland and cliff tops. Sweat-soaked efforts were rewarded along the way with resplendent views across the sparkling Atlantic Ocean.
Participants then faced an 11-mile trail challenge, running or hiking through forests and across beaches. A diversion along the route gave teams a chance to cool off in the sea as they took to their kayaks to complete a 1.2 mile loop, before taking to the final leg of the trail on foot to the finish line. An additional bonus challenge saw teams tasked with building emergency shelters using bamboo, string and tarpaulin. Phil Barritt, CARE’s Shelter and Reconstruction Advisor, led the build section and judged each team.
Achievements were celebrated at the reception, where prizes were awarded for outstanding teams. The fastest overall team were Ramboll’s Tom Bignell, Tony Pettigrew and Andy Mather, who took the title from BAM Nuttall by finishing in a staggering 3 hours 1 minute. Teams from Network Rail and Crossrail West came in second, third and fourth place. The team from Fairhurst put their engineering expertise to use to win the shelter build.
The most important prize of the night, the award for the top fundraisers, went to BAM Nuttall who raised £833 per team member. Phil Barritt presented to teams about how CARE provides emergency shelter following disasters, as well as transitional and disaster resistant permanent buildings. He explained the £600 raised by each participant could pay for a new, flood-proofed house for a family in Bangladesh. CARE Challenge Manager Neil Munro said “It was an absolutely brilliant event. We were lucky with the weather and every team had a fantastic day. We’re also blown away by the efforts everyone went to with their fundraising. It has been a tough year for fundraising, yet all our teams were amazing. Enormous thanks to everyone who took part.”
For the past three years the event has been supported by NCE and Ground Engineering as media partners. Glenigan and Costain also supported the event. We would like to thank all partners for their support.
The next CARE Construction Challenge will take place in a new location in 2013. To register your interest visit www.carechallenge.org.uk/construction - Check out the photos from the event here.
Team results:
| Team Name | Company | Trail / Kayak | Cycle | Total |
| R&R | Ramboll | 01:51 | 01:10 | 03:01 |
| Network Rail Crossrail West 3 | Network Rail Crossrail West | 01:56 | 01:20 | 03:16 |
| Network Rail Crossrail West 1 | Network Rail Crossrail West | 01:59 | 01:24 | 03:23 |
| Network Rail Crossrail West 2 | Network Rail Crossrail West | 02:24 | 01:30 | 03:54 |
| There is no Plan B | BAM Nuttall | 02:27 | 01:28 | 03:55 |
| Glenigan 1 | Glenigan | 02:26 | 01:42 | 04:08 |
| Kingspan Leo | Kingspan Leo | 02:39 | 01:35 | 04:14 |
| The Fairhurst Falcons | Fairhurst | 02:51 | 01:56 | 04:47 |
| Enterprisemouchel | Enterprisemouchel | 03:30 | 01:52 | 05:22 |
| Glenigan 2 | Glenigan | 03:34 | 02:04 | 05:38 |
| GE Gazelles | Ground Engineering | 03:33 | 02:15 | 05:48 |
