Sharp Business Systems UK (SBSUK) is proud to announce that in December its staff marched, walked and ran 1,650 miles collectively, raising an incredible £8,546 for the British Heart Foundation (BHF), in loving memory of their late colleague Mark Dunn, Account Manager for the Public Sector Sales Team, who unexpectedly died from heart attack last year.
Averaging 330 miles per day, 106 of Mark’s colleagues took part in the week-long challenge. After smashing the original 518-mile target in just two days, it was increased to 1,483 miles - the distance from Sharp’s Dundee office to its new IT Helpdesk in Poland.
Mark’s wife Sarah Dunn watched the event closely, she said: “I am so grateful to all of you. It has been really uplifting to know that you have kept Mark in your thoughts during this year’s fundraising. It’s been such a difficult time and we have felt pretty low, so this came at the perfect time - I was updating our family from all over the world as your progress emails arrived. Thank you all so much.”
Leah Goodhind, Fundraising Manager at the BHF commented: “Sharp have raised a phenomenal amount of money and thank you to everyone that took part. It was an absolute joy to follow the event via social media and see the leader board which showed people travelling some incredible distances, especially during what has been a very difficult year.
“Naturally coronavirus has massively impacted charities, and that goes for the BHF too. The money Sharp has raised will continue to help us fight heart and circulatory disease and illness. On behalf of everybody at the British Heart Foundation I’d like to say a huge thank you to Sharp for everything they’ve done.”
Sharp’s National Charity Partner of the Year for 2020/2021, the British Heart Foundation funds over £100 million heart and circulatory disease research each year, which tragically still kill 1 in 4 people in the UK, making their work more vital than ever.
Mark’s Mum, Pat Dunn commented: “Thank you to Mark’s friends and colleagues at Sharp for walking in memory of Mark, a brilliant son and brother. We miss him and hope that by fundraising other families can be spared this devastation.”
Organiser of the event and Senior Marketing Executive at Sharp, Isabelle Eddy said: “There was such a buzz around this event, it’s a real testament to how people felt about Mark and what we can achieve when we do it together. Everyone shared pictures which ramped up the friendly competitiveness. They loved being able to watch progress in real-time using the Strava app and Challenge Hound. Thank you to everyone that took part!”
Once the week-long event was complete, JustGiving contacted the team at Sharp to let them know they were in the top 1% of fundraisers for 2020, ending the event on a high note.
