We may have been locked down for much of the year but nothing could stop Onecom’s amazing people baking, running, swimming, cycling and getting dressed up to raise thousands of pounds for our chosen charity, YoungMinds.
As 2020 draws to a close, we’re proud to look back on all we have achieved for this brilliant charity, which helps children and young people in need of mental health support.
In total we’ve raised £5,272 thanks to the efforts of staff across the business. As always, our Onecom people embraced the challenges with energy and enthusiasm! Here are some highlights:
Back in February, we held a bake sale in recognition of Time to Talk Day at each of our Onecom offices (this was pre-social distancing, of course). The day encouraged everyone to be more open about mental health. As well as baking some delicious treats, we raised over £1,000.
Onecom’s Big Coffee Morning took place during lockdown in May for Mental Health Awareness Week. We arranged a virtual coffee date to catch up with our colleagues and donated what we would usually spend on a coffee and cake to raise £1,170.50.
For one week in July, everyone in the business was invited to take part in the #10KYourWay challenge. This involved donating a minimum of £5 to YoungMinds and completing 10K in any way we saw fit – such as walking, running, swimming or cycling. #10kYourWay raised a total of £524.
When the Olympics should have been happening, we wanted to host a series of fun virtual challenges to get everyone moving. Using video calls on Microsoft Teams, the Office Olympics involved participants completing five timed activities, with the aim to achieve as many of each activity as possible. The challenges included the Take A Seat Challenge (how many times can you sit down and stand up), Abs-solutely Fabulous (sit-ups), Sass-squats (squats), Chips & Tricep Dips and Off Your Seat to Reach the Peak (mountain climbers). Our Olympians raised a gold medal winning £765!
October saw World Mental Health Day and YoungMinds’ annual campaign #HelloYellow. We wore yellow for a day to spread awareness of mental health issues and raised £678.
Our last activity of the year was the return of our Halloween Dress Down. Staff were invited to dust off their fangs, witch’s hats and broomsticks and donate. Well done to the everyone raising £667.
A huge thank you to everyone who got involved this year. We look forward to many more exciting fundraising activities and to supporting YoungMinds in their #BeyondTomorrow campaign, which aims to limit the long-term impact of the pandemic on young people’s mental health.
Find out more about the work of YoungMinds at https://youngminds.org.uk/.