A workplace challenge designed to motivate Nisa colleagues into getting more active has raised more than £16,000 for charity over the past three months.
The Nisa Miles initiative, which encourages staff to walk, run or cycle to achieve a specific mileage target each month or quarter, saw colleagues completing 16,810 miles between July and September. And with Nisa’s charity, Making a Difference Locally, pledging to donate £1 per mile to charity and rounding up the total, the chosen beneficiary for this quarter, Batten Disease Family Association (BDFA), will receive a donation of £17,000.
The Nisa Miles challenge launched in January to encourage staff to walk, run or cycle through the first month of the year to hit a target of 25, 50, 75 or 100 miles each, and as a further incentive, Making a Difference Locally pledged to match miles with money.
The challenge is expected to run throughout the year, with new mileage and step targets being set by month or quarter. Making a Difference Locally is also extending its support for the remainder of the year, with funds going to a different good cause each quarter.
Since the beginning of the year, Nisa colleagues have raised £46,853 for good causes through the initiative, with Alzheimer’s Society and Lindsey Lodge Hospice also receiving donations.
Steve Portess, Nisa Warehouse Systems Analyst introduced the challenge after initiating mileage challenges with his running club outside of work.
He said: “This quarter was particularly meaningful for participants as it was done for our colleague Trevor Lemm. Trevor sadly lost his son, Oliver, to Batten Disease during the previous quarter, so for Q3 we decided that the money raised would go to the BDFA in Oliver’s memory.
“The colleagues at Nisa did not disappoint, with close to 90 people signed up and taking part in support of a much loved colleague. Together, we smashed the total miles generated in Quarters 1 and 2 by over 1,000 miles.”
