This day was a year in the making and had been worth every penny, every blister and torn muscle. Because on 22nd April 2015, Radiomarathon got a new set of wheels, a brand new 16-seat accessible minibus in brilliant bright green.
It was an incredibly proud moment for all of us at The Floor Shop. We had run the Tough Mudder back in 2014 and a year later the fruits of our efforts were parked outside the charity’s front door.
All 14 of our team crossed the Tough Mudder finishing line, maybe a little worse for wear, but we had faced the challenge and come through with flying colours. And, in the process we had raised over £12,000 for Radiomarathon, our charity of choice.
This local centre for young adults with learning disabilities helps those who attend it to learn new skills, work towards independence and have fun with various sports and activities and they so desperately needed the support of a vehicle that could pick up and drop off those who could not make it into the centre on their own, or for fun days out.
Now there was something tangible to show for our efforts, our money put to good use, now it was to have a real and measurable positive impact on the lives of those who rely on this wonderful charity.
Our £12,000 may have been generous but of course that’s not enough on its own to buy a minibus of the kind Radiomarathon needed, so the other contributor to this day’s gift was wealth and investment management company, Investec. Their staff had completed fund raising events on an entirely different scale and one of the charities to benefit from their generosity was Radiomarathon.
At the presentation ceremony were representatives from Radiomarathon, The Floor Shop, Investec, Lord’s Taverners, the UK’s leading youth cricket and disability sports charity, and Radio One DJ and TV presenter Greg James, along with many young adults from the Radiomarathon’s centre that will be benefiting from the new minibus.
While it was very satisfying to stand next to the vehicle that had been our goal for the previous year, nothing could compare to the smiles on the faces of the guys from Radiomarathon, the young people that we had gone through all this for. If we hadn’t already decided to do so we would have chosen there and then to extend our 25p donation to the charity for every metre squared of flooring that we sell indefinitely. It’s our way of continuing to make a difference in our local community.