Students clock up the miles with fundraising challenge

Students from across the University of Northampton have put their best foot and hoof, forward to go the extra mile raising money to support NHS charities.

With competitive sports fixtures and social events off the calendar, the University of Northampton Students’ Union Equestrian Club decided to launch a competition for its members. The challenge, to clock up the most miles in a week, and in just seven days, the club walked, ran, and trotted over 8,000 miles and raised over £1,000.

Regan Madden, a final year Marketing Management student and Secretary of the Equine Club, said: ”The Club has virtually kept in touch with each other in lockdown, but we felt like we needed the challenge to boost our morale. We’re all in the thick of it with our University work, and we needed a bit of motivation to get away from our screens and get outdoors.

“Inspired by Sir Captain Tom Moore, we set ourselves the challenge to move more. We were amazed by how many miles people were able to rack up, walking dogs, on horseback, and stretching our legs. We all loved the boost that getting outdoors gave us too, the fact we raised over £1,000 for the NHS was a wonderful bonus.”

Riding high on their success, the Club decided to challenge the other teams to join the challenge and clock up as many miles, and pounds, as possible in a second week of action.

Regan said: “We were delighted that nearly all of the sports teams joined in with our challenge. It was great to have a bit of competition amongst the teams. We’re really pleased with the effort that everyone put in.”

In total, the Equestrian Club has now raised over £2,000 for NHS charities and the Sir Captain Tom Moore Foundation and covered thousands of miles.