Total Objects Adventure Challenge post-event report

There was no let-up to the atrocious British weather for our last event of the 2007 season, the second Total Objects Adventure Challenge. This one-day multi-activity event, exclusive to the insurance sector, raised ?55,000 for CARE International. 

Thirteen insurance industry teams battled torrential rain and howling winds as they hiked, biked and kayaked their way round the Coniston region of the Lake District on Sunday 23rd September. The 9 participating companies included event returnees Legal & General, Besso, event sponsors Total Objects, Heritage Group, plus newcomers the Harold Wilson Organisation, Norton Insurance and Bell & Clements. A special mention must go to two teams ? Total Objects Team 2 and Heritage Group ? who had taken on the additional challenge of travelling from Russia and Guernsey respectively, to take part in the event!

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Choppy on Coniston Water!
The day?s proceedings kicked of at Coniston?s John Ruskin school early on Sunday morning, where teams assembled for their first activity of the day. They were tasked with taking on three very different disciplines throughout the day ? a tough 1-hour cycle ride around beautiful yet hilly Grizedale Forest, a 1-hour kayak relay on Coniston Water, and a climb up the infamous Old Man of Coniston (803m). Teams were divided into 3 groups, and rotated around each activity.

The unwelcoming murky conditions early on settled into driving rain and leaden skies, which remained throughout the rest of the day. Despite the odd puncture on the bike course, blustery conditions on the water, compounded by an extremely soggy and foggy mountain climb, all teams managed to complete the 3 activities within the 12-hour time limit ? a fantastic achievement! A particular mention must go to Heritage Group; undaunted in their mountain quest, they recorded the fastest time, at 2 hours and 50 minutes.

The fastest time for the whole event was made by event returnees Team ?Conflict? ? Besso team 1, who managed an impressive total of 8 hours and 4 minutes. This was followed closely by fellow returnees, Team ?Education?, (Heritage Group) at 8 hours and 6 minutes. Both teams were delighted to beat their event timings from last year.

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Bell & Clements take on the Old Man!
Ambleside?s Low Wood Hotel on the shore of Lake Windermere was the setting for the post-event reception, where teams celebrated their achievements of the day with a much-needed hot meal and a beer or two, and on the dance floor later on. Speeches were given by CARE UK?s Head of Corporate Engagement Tim Bishop and in-house Programme Officer Vanessa Rubin, who spoke about CARE?s work in Niger, while MD of Total Objects Jim Barry thanked participating teams and the valuable contribution made by the UK insurance sector towards CARE?s ongoing work.

Special awards were made to event returnees Legal & General, who retained last year?s accolade of top fundraisers, with their team raising ?5,000 on this year?s event, which well exceeded their ?3,000 target. This was followed by top fundraising company Bell & Clements, whose 3 teams raised ?9,000 between them.
 
A special award was also made to exclusive media partner Lloyd?s List, for their unwavering support in helping recruit and promote the event to the insurance market.

Collectively, teams raised a fantastic total of ?55,000 ? exceeding last year?s total of ?52,700. Jim Barry expressed his thanks, saying: ?Congratulations and a sincere thank you to everyone from the UK insurance market ? both newcomers and returnees - for taking part in the second Total Objects Adventure Challenge and beating our 2006 fundraising total. We at the company have a deep-seated belief in putting something back into the communities we serve, and are proud to be able to help contribute to the fantastic work of CARE International. We would urge you to continue to support this excellent cause in tackling global poverty.?

CARE Challenge Fundraising Manager Michele Evans, added: ?This is a fantastic result, and teams should be very proud of their achievement. Despite the awful weather, teams were in great spirits throughout the event, and we would like to extend a huge thank you, not only to participants for taking on the challenge, but also our event sponsors Total Objects. Thank you to everyone for making it such a success and helping to make a difference to CARE?s ongoing work.?

To get a feel for what the event is all about, or just to relive the day?s events, click here for our event photo gallery.

If you?d like to get involved in a CARE Challenge in 2008, please click here for details.

Total Objects Adventure Challenge 23rd September 2007 Team Results

 

Team

Name

 Call-sign Bike Hike Canoe Briefs

Total

Time

Besso Team 1 Conflict 01:42 03:08 00:44 02:30 08:04
Heritage Group Ltd Education 02:06 02:50 00:40 02:30 08:06
Total Objects Team 1 Food 01:40 03:22 00:45 02:30 08:17
Stepping Stones Trade 01:56 03:45 00:57 02:30 09:08
The Harold Wilson Organisation Health 01:56 04:06 00:43 02:30 09:15
Legal & General Project 02:01 04:00 00:44 02:30 09:15
Bell & Clements Team 2 Justice 01:59 04:26 00:51 02:30 09:46
Total Objects Team 2 Farming 02:18 04:06 00:53 02:30 09:47
Besso Team 2 Water 02:12 04:22 00:58 02:30 10:02
Bell & Clements Team 3 Shelter 02:27 04:21 00:52 02:30 10:10
Leasemaster Urban 02:13 04:27 01:06 02:30 10:16
Bell & Clements Team 1 Climate 02:27 04:35 00:57 02:30 10:29
Norton Insurance Market 03:14 05:11 00:44 02:30 11:39
 
 

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CARE challenge are an in-house charity fundraising team. We offer many exciting charity events that you can join. All our charity challenges offer amazing adventures outdoors and lots of our activities take place over adventure weekends. If charity runs are your thing, then we have lots to offer - 10K runs, half marathons and many other running events. Or, how about cycling events for charity? We certainly have lots to offer in the charity cycling department. There are charity rides where you can cycle London to Brighton or you can even do a charity bike ride from London to Paris, if London to Brighton isn't far enough! We also have some charity walks and hikes. Later this year we have a sponsored walk that is 25 miles long in order to celebrate the 25th anniversary of CARE International's UK office. If activities outdoors and adventure weekends get your adrenalin pumping, then why not sign up for one of our mountain challenges? We have numerous charity challenges on mountains over the year from three peaks challenges to 24 peaks challenges - if you think you're up to it! For many of our charity fundraising events you can register as a teamleader or part of a team. We believe our charity challenges offer great teambuilding activities and are really great for team events. So if you're interested in corporate team building through a great charity challenge then the CARE Challenge Series is for you. Click here to see all our charity challenges.