The staff at Ipswich-based insurance specialist Pound Gates have pledged to take 11 million steps in January in a bid to keep fit during lockdown and to raise funds for charity.

Sixty of Pound Gates staff will take part in ‘The Pound Gates Lockdown Steps Challenge’, which is hoping to raise funds for The Soma Leo Foundation, a charity that provides education and support to disadvantaged communities in East Africa. 

The directors and managers of Pound Gates are involved with the charity either as Trustees or by providing all of the administrative resources the charity requires.  Dave Collins, Client Services Director at Pound Gates and Trustee for The Soma Leo Foundation said, “At a time when our teams can’t physically be together, this challenge gives us an opportunity to still come together and do something good for ourselves whilst in turn doing good for the charity, which our staff have supported since its inception in 2015.”

The challenge is deliberately simple to ensure all lockdown rules are met. Each person has pledged how many steps they will take and they are free to achieve them in the way that suits them best. That could be working out to exercise videos, running around after children while home-schooling, and/or taking advantage of the exercise window to get outside and enjoy some fresh air. The personal pledges made by the participants add up to 11 million steps.

The challenge can be followed on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (#StepUp4SomaLeo). Find out more, along with details of how to support the teams, here.