Blog. 30,000 Miles To Hell and Back
June 22, 2021
This summer, we challenged the country to travel 30,000 Miles To Hell and Back – and we were blown away by the response! Not only did we complete the challenge, we completely smashed our targets. Our 1,018 participants travelled more than 37,500 miles and have raised over £160,000 (including Gift Aid, offline donations and sponsorship) to date. Absolutely phenomenal!
The To Hell and Back challenge followed on from the success of last year’s 20,000 Mile Hospitality Challenge, where over 500 participants raised over £75,000. In the year since, hospitality workers have experienced unimaginable hardship: lives and livelihoods have been lost; mental health has been challenged; businesses have closed. The past year has been nothing short of hellish.
Sponsored by Caterer.com, CH&Co, jellybean, Umbrella Training and supported by Champagne Taittinger, this year we went even bigger and better by challenging the country to travel an epic 30,693 miles to virtually visit four hells on earth: towns called Hell in California, Michigan and Norway; and Hell Creek in Montana. Crucially, this was a return journey. Yes, we were heading to Hell - but coming back again, as a team, just as the UK's resilient hospitality industry will be back in full attack.
The challenge launched on the morning of Thursday 10th June, with hellishly hot weather to suit the occasion and a special message from Andi Oliver. We were glued to our screens as our virtual map lit up, with everyone totting up the miles at a feverish rate. By day 2 we were racing towards our first stop on the longest leg of the challenge to reach Hell, California.
There was no stopping everyone as the weekend approached, with people continuing to sign up to take part and helping us hit our first milestone – 10,000 miles! By day 3 we were a third of the way to our mileage target and had reached our second Hell in Norway. The miles continued to be clocked up at a devilish rate as we headed towards Hell in Michigan and Hell Creek in Montana, and the donations kept pouring in, as everyone aimed to reach their personal targets and beat their team mates. It was great to see such camaraderie, with so many hospitality people working towards one goal.
Everyone cycled, walked and ran so much that we hit our 30,000 mile target a whole day ahead of schedule – just in time for the hellish heat to break and the heavens to open. We were completely blown away by the heroic efforts of all our participants. By the close of the challenge the target had been smashed, with over 37,500 miles covered by 1,018 participants and donations of over £160,000 to date. Absolutely astounding. A big shout out must go to Team THE PIGs & Lime Wood, who clocked up over 7,000 miles between their team of 171 people, raising over £39,000 (including Gift Aid) so far. Huge well done – and thank you so much!
The funds raised will help to support many employees of our much-loved hotels, coffee shops, pubs and cafes who have been some of the worst hit by the outbreak of Covid-19.
If you would like to make a donation you can do so here. But be quick! Fundraising closes at 2pm on Friday 25th June.