In 2019, to celebrate their Inverness office’s 40th Anniversary, colleagues from Inverness and Edinburgh Saffery offices decided that they would come together to support Venture Scotland by trekking the Great Glencoe Challenge!
Unfortunately, the pandemic stopped the incredible Saffery Team from taking part in this challenge until 2023! But they didn’t let the postponement of their Great Glencoe Challenge stop their incredible fundraising and support of Scotland’s young people over the 3 years!
With colleagues taking on:
- Weight loss challenges
- Movember
- Numerous bake sales
- Gunge the Partner
- Quizzes
- And Bonus Ball fundraisers!
…and finally, in September 2023 they completed the Great Glencoe Challenge in some really challenging conditions – and with three of the team running the full 26.2-mile distance (even up the Devil’s Staircase!)
Corporate Fundraiser Katie got to chat with Kris Young at Saffery Inverness back in October:
“In the world that we live in now, it’s more important than ever to support organisations like Venture Scotland. Mental health support is key, and the growing awareness around it is so important.
Getting young people outdoors is incredibly valuable; we’re an outdoors-y office with lots of people who enjoy a variety of outdoor activities, especially in such a beautiful location – so working with a charity that brings young people into those spaces is important to us.
The partnership has been great for our organisation and colleagues, getting to partner with a charity that we share values with and taking on a range of challenges to fundraise – especially the Great Glencoe Challenge which was incredible – some of us knew what we were getting ourselves in for, but even I didn’t realise how much the weather was going to change over the course of the Challenge! We had team members wearing waterproof ponchos from festivals – you could hear them coming before you saw them! And three Saffery colleagues ran the 26.2 miles of challenging terrain!
We didn’t have any midges, but there was hail! In September! We really did get the four seasons in one day, but the team keeps you going. It was great to get the opportunity to walk for miles with people that we don’t usually sit near, it was brilliant for team building and getting to know people that we wouldn’t normally get to work with.
We are so grateful to everyone who has supported us on this journey; Katie came up to the Inverness office to thank us in person and revealed that the final amount raised by all of us at Saffery – a truly astounding £13,791! I can’t put into words what this means to the young people that VS supports and we were humbled to hear from one of the young adults who has been supported by VS who made a video to tell us what our support meant to her and how supporting Venture Scotland can truly change a life.
If you are considering partnering with Venture Scotland, I cannot speak highly enough of this partnership and the team – Venture Scotland are a great bunch of people and incredibly friendly. Personally, this has been one of the most rewarding charity experiences that I’ve had. It has been great to get to build a relationship with the team and gain a stronger understanding of the work that we’re supporting, having contact with David, Tricia, Katie and the team and feeling that real personal touch. Getting to see this partnership flourish was extremely rewarding!”
It is always sad to say goodbye to a dedicated partner like Safferys, everyone at Venture Scotland want to say a huge thank you! We are so grateful for the Safferys Team’s incredible support throughout some of the hardest years. They have ensured that Venture Scotland can keep working with young people and running programmes. The people who support Venture Scotland – from Trusts and Foundations, local Councils and local businesses to each and every individual – you all come together to make this work possible and we couldn’t do it without you – THANK YOU!
If you would be interested in helping us to continue changing young lives outdoors, Katie would be keen to hear from you about your partnership idea, or to get some information to nominate Venture Scotland for your workplace’s Charity of the Year! Please do get in touch by emailing katie.bruce@venturescotland.org.uk – she will be delighted to hear from you and to answer any questions that you might have!