A local housebuilder has raised £5,000 for a mental health charity after setting employees a step challenge during the month of March.

Story Homes pledged to donate £20 to its charity partner Mind for every staff member who completed 100,000 steps in March and would top this up to £5,000 if staff were able to collectively walk 10 million steps in the month.

By the end of March, staff managed to clock up nearly 18 million steps, with over 80 Story Homes employees taking part in the challenge.

Story Homes has supported Mind as its charity partner since 2018, and recently announced it would be continuing to support the charity for the 2021/22 financial year.

Discussing the partnership with Mind, Colin Wood, Chief Operating Officer at Story Homes said:

“We wanted to kick start our fundraising efforts with something that’s proven to benefit health. Mind recommends getting outside for a walk to help improve both physical and mental wellbeing and whether it was steps clocked up on site, at the weekend or during lunch break walks, everything counted.

“It was great to see everyone getting involved in the challenge for this important cause and I’m proud that as a team we have raised such a great amount of money for Mind so far.”

Mind provides advice and support to anyone experiencing a mental health problem, and the funds raised by Story Homes will be divided between the local Mind branches in the companies’ operational regions – including Carlisle, Newcastle and Lancashire.

Mind offers information and advice to people with mental health problems.

Find out more online at: https://www.mind.org.uk/