A travel agency boss who scaled Mount Kilimanjaro last year is limbering up for her next charity challenge – the Bupa Great North Run.
Sue Reid of The Midcounties Co-op Travel will run in the world’s biggest half marathon on Sunday 16 September for Women’s Aid, the key national charity working to end domestic violence against women and children.
She hopes to raise £1,000 for Midcounties’ charity partner to add to the £7,000 raised for the same cause in her trek up Africa’s highest mountain.
Sue, aged 49, is based in Walsall and Warwick, as General Manager, Travel Distribution, and has been doing early morning training runs before work. She said: “I have never been a runner but I wanted to do another challenge and started training in February. The 13.1 miles from Newcastle to South Shields will be a real test but it will be exciting too and a memorable way to mark International Year of Co-operatives.
“I know there will be great support along the route and I’ll be spurred on by doing it for Women’s Aid. I’m grateful to everyone who has sponsored me and if anyone else wants to do so they can go to www.justgiving.com/sue-reid169.”
Sue’s husband Ben Reid, Chief Executive of The Midcounties Co-operative and colleagues Paul Jay, Business Development Manager, and Chris Pattinson, Digital Marketing Manager, will also be among the 54,000 participants in the televised run.
Midcounties is raising money to support the work of Women’s Aid nationally and 11 local services that operate within its trading areas, including refuges at Wolverhampton, Walsall, Shropshire, Wyre Forest, Warwickshire, Wycombe, Oxfordshire, The Forest of Dean and Gloucestershire.
Since the two-year partnership started last year its colleagues, members and customers have raised £274,000. Colleagues have also given their time to volunteering projects and have supported campaign work for the charity.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
The Midcounties Co-operative has its headquarters in Warwickshire, with trading outlets in Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Shropshire, West Midlands, Worcestershire and the surrounding counties.
The Society’s trading groups are food retail, funeral, travel, pharmacy, childcare nurseries, employee benefits and energy. The Midcounties Co-operative is the largest independent co-operative society in the UK and has more than 470 branches, and 245,000 active trading members. It is in The Sunday Times Best 25 Big Companies To Work For list for the second year running.
The Society's mission statement is 'To be a successful consumer co-operative working towards creating a better, fairer world, and to enhance the lives of our colleagues, members, customers, and the communities we serve'.
About Co-operative Travel
Co-operative Travel offer a variety of holidays, flights and hotels. They are providers of all inclusive holiday deals, as well as Europe based city breaks and cheap cruise deals.
For more details call Lorna Bishop at Seal on 0121 616 5800. Visit www.midcounties.coop
The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2012 as the International Year of Co-operatives, highlighting the contribution of co-operatives to socio-economic development, particularly their impact on poverty reduction, employment generation and social integration. The Year will highlight the strengths of the co-operative business model as an alternative means of doing business and furthering socio-economic development.
About Women’s Aid
Women's Aid is the national domestic violence charity that co-ordinates and supports an England-wide network of over 500 local services working to end domestic violence against women and children. Keeping the voices of survivors at the heart of its work, Women's Aid campaigns for better legal protection and services, providing a strategic "expert view" to government on laws, policy and practice affecting abused women and children. In partnership with its national network, Women's Aid runs public awareness and education campaigns, bringing together national and local action, and developing new training and resources. Women's Aid provides a package of vital 24 hour lifeline services through its publications (available in 11 languages including English), websites (www.womensaid.org.uk and www.thehideout.org.uk), and running the Freephone 24 Hour National Domestic Violence Helpline in partnership with Refuge. Women's Aid is a registered charity no 1054154.
