Aura Infection Control have challenged themselves to raise £8,000 for GNAAS this year, which is nearly the equivalent cost of two call-outs.
The company, based in Barnard Castle, originally got in touch with our charity after offering to donate their excess stock, but after visiting our headquarters in Eaglescliffe and seeing the work of GNAAS, they decided to choose us as their charity of the year.
Maria Snaith, sales and service consultant at the company, said: “Three members of our team visited the base and felt compelled to help as they were floored by the fact that GNAAS gets no funding. On mentioning this to the team, we were inundated with stories of the air ambulance helping loved ones of the wider Aura family.”
Our critical care team had previously responded to an incident involving their business manager Emily Coatsworth’s father. Sadly after providing care on scene, her father passed away, but she was given the opportunity to visit our base and meet Dr Chris Johnson who tried to help him.
The team have already been working hard to raise funds for our service, including hosting a cake sale, running an office tuck shop and carrying out clothing collections.
Their latest challenge was to collectively swim, bike, row, run, or walk 8,000 miles over six weeks.
Maria said: “Although it has been rewarding, exciting, motivating, energising and, at times, fun, it has been really hard. There have been blisters on blisters, saddle sores and lots of aching bodies.
“Getting up at 5am to get miles in before work, when you would rather the hour in bed; cycling when partners put the children to bed; walking to work in all weathers; getting to the end of the day having promised yourself you’ll get 40km done, but only having done 30 so spending the next 30min on the bike rather than going to bed.
“But each time we feel it is getting too hard, it reminds us of all the hard work GNAAS’ team put in day in and day out to support our loved ones.”
The team successfully covered 8,000 miles last week, which is the distance from Barnard Castle to Bangkok, and they intend on taking part in more physical challenges, including the Great North Run and our virtual ‘Race to the Base‘ challenge.
To support Aura Infection Control’s fundraising, visit their JustGiving page.
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