Another record breaking event for the COINS 3 Peaks challenge!

A record 46 teams with more than 325 participants and support crew made their way up to Scotland this weekend to the foot of Ben Nevis for the start of the 5th challenge in this series.  Due to the number of teams taking part, double briefings took place by the CARE team to get people off from the start safely and as quickly as possible. 

COINS alongside Osborne, the event's premier fundraising team, led the teams out from the start at 2.00 p.m. sharp.  By 5.00 p.m. base camp was receiving first reports of the first teams summiting with fantastic views from the snow covered peak.  By the time the teams had descended, a certain amount of friendly rivalry was starting to develop between the COINS Mens Team and the COINS Ladies team - 6 minutes between them after Ben Nevis.

By 3.00 a.m. all the teams had successfully reached the service station in Cumbria ready for the briefing before setting off on the second peak in the challenge, Scafell.  All completed this, the most challenging mountain, safely and as the teams made their way towards Snowdon in their vans, making preparations for the final leg of their challenge, a group of directors related to the teams were gathering at the base of Snowdon and preparing for their ascent.  The plan was to summit Snowdon ahead of the teams so that they could spur them on as they met their own teams, on the final challenge ascent.  It was fantastic to welcome to the Directors Challenge 2007: Steve Coombes, Regional Director, Lovell Partnerships; Andrew Osborne, Group Corporate Development Director, Geoffrey Osborne; Phil Andrews, Director of IT, Geoffrey Osborne; Jackie Guinnane, Company Buyer, John Sisk; Michael Alden, Commercial Director with wife Nanda, Weston Homes; John Mackley, Chairman, JT Mackley with wife Dainne; Andrew Johnstone, Millgate Homes and Ian Brown, Barclays Corporate, Barclays

With only 6 hours separating the first and last teams - on Sunday afternoon the teams set off up Snowdon – with now only 2 minutes separating the COINS Mens and Ladies teams.  

Osborne Team 1 were first across the finish line at shortly after 5.00p.m. and a steady flow then continued with teams crossing the finishing line with horns blasting and to rapturous applause.  The weather in the main had held until late afternoon when the heavens opened, ‘raining cats and dogs’ would be an understatement now ‘properly soaked’, teams continued to come across the finishing line until 10:00 p.m. – but all with the widest smiles.

Without a doubt as this event has grown over the years, the teams have also grown wise to the magnitude of the challenge, and have trained hard to reach the goal of the 24hrs.  This year, another record - 23 teams romped home within the 24hrs.   Congratulations must go to Sovereign Group who achieved this years fastest time of, 20hrs 17 minutes  -  just shy of the event record time of 20hrs.

The event is not just about team work and personal challenges, in the main it is about raising funds.  Larry Sullivan in his speech reminded us that more than 25,000 children die in the world per day, through lack of foods and medicine - entirely preventable - and that however hard it might have been out in the mountains over the weekend conditions were infinitely harder for many impoverished and disadvantaged people throughout the world.  If we are to consider ourselves as a civilised society, it is entirely right that we should care about this and try to do something about it.  

It was then with great pleasure Larry was able to announce the event to be another fundraising record breaker.  In total £344,000 was pledged by all the teams this year which took the total for the five years comfortably over the £1 million mark, with a massive total of £1,165,000. 

Congratulations went very proudly to this year’s highest fundraisers, COINS with £47,000; Lovell with £33,500, Osborne £22,500 and Bovis Lend Lease with £16,000, all of whom have been awarded places on this years trip to visit CARE and Habitat for Humanity projects.

Places on the this year’s project trip were also awarded to regular company participants, first Kier who have now taken part for 4 years, also Osborne and Ringway who have now taken part for 3 years.

The final places on the trip were awarded to COINS staff, Pauline Sargent who has been involved in the event organisation for 5 years and Chris Westbury who has taken part for 4 years.

With final and very special thanks to CARE International's, Neil Munroe, Michelle Evans and Steve Lindsay for a fantastically well organised event, without incident.  We can now recover - rest our weary legs and think about next year, which will again promise to be a great event for the Construction Industry. 

In 2008 our aim is for the event to continue to grow, for the distribution of funds to widen and to increasingly move towards supporting organisations with a focus on construction projects that address the needs of impoverished and less privileged people around the world.  We hope to support CARE International, Habitat for Humanity and SteppingOn.

You can register online today.  2008 registration.    Official results for the challenge and for the fundraising will be posted very shortly.

Just in case you were wondering ...

the COINS Ladies, led by Lynn Cox, beat the COINS Mens Team

... by 4 crucial minutes!