AJC Group employees will be taking on an epic fitness challenge to raise much-needed funds for Dorset-based homelessness charity Routes to Roots.

The fitness challenge will take place during the last week of September, we’ll be swapping our typical working week for swimming or paddleboarding the distance of Dover to Calais, cycling the distance of Lands End to John O’Groats, and hiking/jogging up the height of Everest – twice.

The fundraising target for the challenge has been set at £10,000, in order to pay for an increase in much needed overnight bed spaces the number of people Routes to Roots supports and accommodates on a daily/weekly basis increasing all the time.

R2R currently provides basic life necessities such as food, shelter, facilities, clothes, and support to an increasing number of people in most need. Any financial donations the charity receives is invested into their support offer contributing towards the increasing costs of providing a warm welcoming building in which to provide the service.

Seb Janes, Director of AJC Group said: “We are fully committed to giving this epic fitness challenge our all to help raise funds for our charity partner – Routes to Roots. While the cost-of-living crisis is affecting us all, we are very grateful to have our jobs, our houses and a happy homelife. The men and women that Routes to Roots help on a daily basis face complex challenges that have only been heightened in recent times.

“None of us have ever tackled these sorts of swimming, cycling, or hiking distances before, so it will be a journey into the unknown! By pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone for what will be a very long and testing week, we hope that we can count on the generosity of our family, friends, and those we work with to dig deep and donate.”

We have elected to take on the fitness challenge locally in either Poole Harbour, or on a treadmill or static bike in our Poole office, in order to keep the carbon footprint for the challenge to a minimum.

Kate Mellor, Chair of Routes to Roots Trustees, said: “We are hugely grateful to AJC Group for supporting us in this way, who will be enduring a very tough week undertaking the three formidable fitness challenges.

“With Covid-19 still very present, and the cost-of-living crisis escalating by the week, it is an incredibly tough time for all charities. The work we do with local people across Poole and the wider Dorset area to enable them to find and keep a home, develop their skills, increase opportunities – and ultimately prevent homelessness – is essential. We work with people in need every single year and with our operating costs rising significantly, we need to work harder than ever to be able to provide vital support day after day.”

Please donate generously to this very worthy cause: AJC Group is fundraising for Routes to Roots (Poole) CIO (justgiving.com)