“In many parts of the world, children walk up to six hours each day, to gain access to education.” You've probably heard these words before. Sitting in front of the telly, watching your favourite TV show, an advert appears encouraging you to “donate £2 a month, to help save a child’s life today.”
In the digital world that we live in, it’s as easy as taking out your credit card to type in a few details online, or simply signing into PayPal. A few clicks later – you’ve donated to charity and can feel satisfied that you’ve done your good deed for the day.
At Amec Foster Wheeler, we wanted to do something different – we came together across the globe, to step out for Steptember. Steptember is a challenge to take as many steps as possible throughout the month of September, to raise money for SOS Children’s Villages, our charity partner since 2007. These villages provide children with education, healthcare, and prevent vulnerable children from ending up alone by supporting fragile families to stay together.
As well as fundraising for a great cause, this challenge gave us an opportunity to use an everyday activity such as walking, to challenge ourselves. We recorded our total step count online, where we could also see the number of steps taken by our colleagues. This created healthy competition, which motivated us to take as many steps as possible to reach the top of the leader board. Some teams organised fundraising and walking events throughout the month, sharing photographs of their experiences.
This month-long event encouraged us to give back by challenging ourselves in recognition of the many challenges faced by children around the world. By the end of the month, we reached an impressive total of 75.6 million steps and at the same time, have raised almost £3,500 for SOS Children’s Villages, which includes matched funding by Amec Foster Wheeler.