Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Bryan Clover, ceo of Rainy Day Trust, is undertaking a non-stop 24-hour hiking marathon today (Friday June 21) to raise funds for the industry charity’s apprenticeship programme.
He is aiming to cover between 50 and 60 miles of The Ridgeway [an ancient trackway described as Britain’s oldest road that extends from Wiltshire to the River Thames], starting west of Marlborough and finishing north-east of Oxford.
Bryan said: “I’ll be carrying everything that I need for the route including water, food and wet weather clothing; about 40lb in all. I expect to burn something like 9,000 calories and take 70,000-plus steps.
“I’m doing this hike as I want to draw attention to our apprenticeship programme and raise awareness of the fact that learning is a 24 hour process – because apprentices keep learning at home after they have finished at work for the day. All of the sponsorship money raised will go to this programme, which is vital to give younger people the start in life that they deserve, so please dig deep and sponsor the walk.”
“Huge thanks to Lawsons Builders Merchants for being the lead sponsor, and to AkzoNobel, Monument Tools and Reisser for their generous donations too. I’ll be tweeting (at @BryanClover1 ) and posting on Facebook (at https://www.facebook.com/public/Bryan-Clover.7 ) during the day so please get your teams to share and retweet. To support the hike and make the pain worthwhile, please click on https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rainyday100
This morning, Bryan tweeted: “It’s begun! I started off the 24 hour hike this morning at 7.15am and I’m working my way northeastwards along the Ridgeway. A cool start to the day, but dry so far – and quiet too. The ground is still a bit wet after all the rain we’ve had. My backpack is full and weighs a ton. The only saving grace is that it will get lighter during the next 24 hours as I drink my way through 8 litres of water!”
Rainy Day Trust operates across three sectors (builders merchants, DIY & Hardware and Housewares & Tabletop) which have a combined turnover of more than £50 billion and employ close to 500,000 people.
It is the only charity which exists solely to help people who have worked in these industries, including DIY shops, hardware stores, builders merchants, garden centres, cookshops, and all the manufacturers, distributors and retailers in the UK who supply them.
