Last week we teamed up with volunteers from DEFRA and DXC to clean up the UK and raise money for a wonderful girl named Hannah.
Hannah has defied all odds since the day she was born. At three days old, Hannah faced a serious brain bleed, requiring two surgeries. The resulting cerebral palsy means that; Hannah experiences significant impairment on her right side. She navigates the challenges of being wheelchair-bound, suffering with epilepsy, reduced sight and communicating non-verbally. Hannah attends a specialised school offering crucial 1-1 support and integrated therapy care plans, including intensive physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, and occupational therapy to help with her delayed development.
Hannah needs a piece of equipment called an Innowalk that is vital for the healthy development of her muscles. The Innowalk frees Hannah to move and walk with full support. While Hannah may never walk unaided, the Innowalk represents hope and grants her a sense of independence she has not experienced before.
You can donate to Hannah here.
DXC and DEFRA decided to hold a fundraiser to help purchase the Innowalk for Hannah and approached us about teaming up to raise awareness with a series of litter picks. When we heard about Hannah and the fundraiser to afford the Innowalk, we knew we had to do all we could to support.
The plan. Five cleans, five locations, five days. We started in Glasgow, moving to Newcastle. From there we went to Manchester, and then Reading. We then ended our week in Bristol.
95 members of DXC and DEFRA staff donated 1282.5 volunteer hours resulting in a staggering 139 bags of litter collected. Let’s not forget all the items that could not fit into our bags, items such as toilets, bikes, trampolines, crates, tyres, signs, and more.
In total 827.6 kilos of litter was collected. A truly impressive feat.
On a personal note, traveling over a thousand miles seemed like a daunting task at the start of the week, but the unwavering enthusiasm and support from the DXC and DEFRA staff made it an amazing adventure. At every location the volunteers were raring to go and attacked the cleans with a determination and positivity that was infectious.
We want to say a huge thank you to both DXC and DEFRA, who’s staff we a pleasure to work with at every step of the way. Together we not only cleaned up our local areas, but we also raised an impressive sum of money for Hannah. We can’t wait to work together again on future cleans!
