Employees from the One Call Group climb the height of Mount Everest to break isolation and raise money for Cancer research.

Over 300 employees from the One Call Group got involved in a fundraising event dubbed the ‘One Call Challenge’, in an attempt to relieve their mental health whilst supporting Macmillan.

The Coronavirus pandemic has been, and continues to be, impacting on so many aspects of life.

Having taken some time to reflect on this as a team, the Directors at One Call felt an overwhelming urge to bring about a sense of positivity and distraction.

The Mental Health Foundation reported that only 49% of young people were coping with pandemic-related stress during the second wave, as opposed to 64% back in April. With this in mind, One Call introduced an all-inclusive, team-building fundraising event in aid of charity.

Chief Executive Nik Springthorpe said: ‘This statistic caused a real concern for us. Like many insurance companies, 72% of our workforce are aged 18 to 34. They’re working incredibly hard at home for 7 and a half hours a day, 5 days per week and, due to ongoing restrictions, spending the rest of their day at home – it’s far from ideal.

I and the other directors wanted to create an event to evoke a sense of community and lift our employee’s spirits whilst instilling company values from a distance – and then we thought, why not raise money for a great cause as well?’.

The Challenge saw Directors, live chat agents, call handlers and even post room staff all competing in a variety challenges and donating to the charity pot upon entry.

Activities included climbing the equivalent of Mount Everest and walking over 15,000 miles, to leave the confinement of their own four walls (within government guidelines) to get outside and have fun.

With Covid19 still heavily impacting on the voluntary sector, healthcare professionals have been left worrying about cancer becoming the forgotten ‘C’, with Macmillan reporting on a significant downturn in income and an estimated 2,000 cancer cases going undiagnosed every week.

Springthorpe continued: ‘in light of the current circumstances, the list of what the team managed to achieve is eye watering. Together they were able to raise £4,161 - taking our annual charity total up to £36,260 which is outstanding.

With the bulk of our employees at home and feeling isolated, it’s safe to say that they loved getting involved in this series of rewarding activities and their spirits were certainly uplifted.’

Sophie Gargan from Macmillan said ‘We’re forever grateful to One Call for their continued support throughout the year.

Over 650,000 cancer patients have experienced disruption to their cancer care since Covid19, causing cancer to overtake Coronavirus as a leading cause of death.

Having the team go above and beyond to help reduce this number makes the world of difference.’