Dorset-based affordable housing specialist AJC Group has kick-started its training for an ultimate ‘HealthBus Challenge’ in April, to raise £10,000 for local charity the HealthBus Trust. The colossal week-long challenge will include gruelling lifts, skips and jumps and will culminate in the AJC team hauling a hulky 4.5 tonne HealthBus along the beachfront to Bournemouth.
The 35-strong dedicated team at AJC Group are gearing up for a whole week of relentless physical challenges starting 15 April. Collectively, the team will lift the equivalent of 500 Healthbuses weighing 4.5 tonnes each, skip the entire population of Bournemouth at 196,000, and jump a total of 5,000 Healthbuses at a height of 273 cm each.
The grand finale will take place on Friday 19 April, where the team will have to dig deep to heave a 4.5 tonne HealthBus – the equivalent weight of an elephant – along the promenade for a back-breaking 5km, starting in Sandbanks and finishing in Bournemouth.
The money raised will support vital funds for local charity the Healthbus Trust, which provides essential healthcare and wellbeing to people experiencing homelessness in Bournemouth and the surrounding areas.
David Cracklen, Director of AJC Group, said: “We’ve started training and already we know this will be our most physically challenging fundraiser to date. We are determined to succeed, even if we can’t walk for days after!
“Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole district has the highest number of rough sleepers outside of London, so the work that the HealthBus Trust and its homeless charity partners provide are needed more than ever. We want to raise as much money as possible and hope there will be lots of people to cheer us on and donate on our final day!”*
Deano Pickering, Executive Director at HealthBus Trust said: “This is by far the craziest and most punishing challenge anyone has undertaken to raise money for us. We are so grateful to AJC Group. Collaborations like this are instrumental in sustaining our life-saving initiatives and specialised care for individuals facing homelessness in our town.”
Recently bestowed The King’s Award for Voluntary Service, The HealthBus Trust operates a mobile clinic from specialist vehicles. This includes a converted ambulance, which has all the facilities of a medical practitioner’s office. Three to four days per week, the HealthBus team provides a safe and non-judgmental GP-led service to vulnerable adults, working in close relationship with Homelessness Partnerships run by BCP Council.
Based in Poole, Dorset, AJC Group is on a mission to improve the quantity and quality of affordable homes in the Wessex region. The team have a track record in supporting local residents facing homelessness and have recently delivered a trailblazing scheme to provide 24 ‘move on’ homes in Poole. AJC Group has a number of projects currently under construction, with a focus on much-needed affordable and sustainable housing.
To donate, please visit https://www.justgiving.com/page/ajc-group-1708943589751