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28th January 2021
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Zip Water UK gets muddy in memory of former colleague
Four intrepid members of Zip Water UK - manufacturer of advanced drinking water appliances - took part in Tough Mudder Scotland 2017 this month, raising money in memory of their former colleague John Phillips, who sadly passed away in January this year.
Completing the course in three and a half hours, the team ran the demanding, and exceptionally muddy, 10.5-mile obstacle race in aid of St Catherine's Hospice, where John was cared for.
Working as a team to motivate each other, Robbie Ferguson, sales manager (North), Dan Callaghan, regional sales manager (North East & North West), Jody Lowe, regional sales manager (Central) and Michael Quinn, specification manager (North East) waded through unknown quantities of mud and a total of 25 obstacles.
The Zip foursome, who were joined by Tracy Shortt, showroom manager at City Plumbing Supplies, have raised £480 so far for St Catherine's Hospice, surpassing their £450 target.
St Catherine's Hospice in Preston is a local charity helping those affected by serious illness enjoy quality of life and have dignity in death. With around £5.2m needed to run the hospice each year, the charity receives around £1.7m from the NHS, relying on charitable support to raise a huge £3.5m each year.
This year's fundraising work follows the completion of another Tough Mudder in 2016, in which Robbie, Dan and Michael, along with another colleague and some of Zip's customers, raised over £700 for Crohn's & Colitis UK.
Robbie says: "After the success of last year's Tough Mudder, we decided to take on the challenge again. But this time around, we wanted raise some money in memory of the sudden and sad loss of our former colleague John. St Catherine's Hospice helped and supported John and his family during his illness.
"We not only raised a fantastic amount for the charity, but the event was great for team building. We worked together to help not just our friends and colleagues taking part, but the other mudders too."
Dan adds: "Last year we trained extremely hard and put a lot of pressure on ourselves. This year we decided to enjoy it and make more of the experience. We gave it our all, but at the same time stuck together as a team from the start and laughed pretty much all of the way through, even during the real tough obstacles!"
Fundraiser at St Catherine's Hospice, Emma Jacovelli, says: "It's great to hear that the team enjoyed their Tough Mudder challenge - they worked really hard and raised nearly £500 for the charity, which is fantastic.
"We'd like to thank them for their amazing efforts - without such backing from our communities and corporate supporters, St Catherine's simply wouldn't be able to continue providing such valuable end-of-life care to people like John.
"So thank you to the Zip Water UK team - and City Plumbing Supplies! You really are helping to make a difference to local people and their families when it matters most."
Robbie, Dan and the team are already looking for people to take part in 2018, but if you'd like to make a donation for this year's efforts, the team's Just Giving page is still open at:
Image: From left - City Plumbing Supplies' Tracy Shortt with Zip Water UK's Dan Callaghan, Michael Quinn, Robbie Ferguson and Jody Lowe enjoying a beer after the race
30th June 2017