As part of our ongoing commitment to corporate social responsibility, Sigma is keen to contribute to the valuable work carried out by the amazing charities and organisations operating within our region. One recent event we have been proud to take part in was a 21-mile fundraising walk organised by Sigma Project Manager, Ben Ward, for the Darby Rimmer MND Foundation.
Taking place on the 29 September, the circular walk took participants on a sports-themed journey that visited the Castleford Tigers, Wakefield Trinity and Featherstone Rovers rugby stadiums, as well as the Pontefract Racecourse and Yorkshire Field Sports. There was a great turnout at the event, with 14 members of the Sigma team taking part in total. Happily, despite its challenging length and the Yorkshire hills, most walkers managed to complete the entire route.
The walk had been specially planned for Sigma by Redwood Events, which acts as the Darby Rimmer events team. The route was split into six stages so the participants could walk as much or as little as they were comfortable with while enabling them to join in or leave at any of the venues on the way. The only change Ben made to the route was to start and finish at the Sigma offices in Castleford, this way, everyone doing the full journey would know where to meet and would be able to park their cars.
Darby Rimmer MND Foundation was chosen as a charity due to Ben’s wife, Rose, being a fan of England Lioness and Manchester City footballing icon, Steph Houghton. Steph’s husband, former Liverpool, Bradford City and Bolton Wanderers footballer, Stephen Darby, has MND and is the co-founder of the charity. After Ben and Rose attended a gala dinner at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium, they decided that they would like to try and do something for the charity to show their support.
Following the gala, Darby Rimmer’s events team got in touch with Ben and put forward some fundraising suggestions. A few meetings later, they had plotted a route for Sigma. With this finalised, Ben’s next step was to reach out to the whole UK Sigma team asking people to participate. It didn’t take long for volunteers to start coming forward and the event began to take off.
Through their marathon efforts, the Sigma volunteers have helped to raise an incredible £1226.36 for the Darby Rimmer MND Foundation. However, the total figure is expected to rise as Rose works for Asda and the Asda Foundation has generously agreed to match whatever she can raise within the store.
While raising funds for the charity is important, Ben and Rose were also keen to raise the profile of the foundation. Through its work, Darby Rimmer seeks to increase awareness of MND, while funding research into the illness to try and find a cure. At the same time, it raises funds and offers grants to those with the disease and supports those with an MND diagnosis through its growing network.
Inspired by the success of this event, Ben, through Sigma, is planning to do bigger things for the foundation in the future, including attempting the gruelling three peaks challenge. Outside of Sigma, Ben is planning to attend another gala dinner in November and will be participating in a Darby Rimmer organised walk that stretches 177 miles from Wembley to Ipswich.
Our involvement with the Darby Rimmer MND Foundation doesn’t end here; the Sigma team have already made plans to meet with the charity to discuss possible future events or opportunities where we can offer our support.
If you would like to donate to the Darby Rimmer MND Foundation, you can do so by visiting https://darbyrimmermnd.co.uk/donate/