Employees of Lubrizol, a science company with a Derbyshire headquarters, have helped support large numbers of people across the country with their mental health after raising a whopping £28,282 for mental health charity Mind.
Employees at the chemistry company raised the total through sponsorship after holding their own “Lubrizol Olympics,” which involved them completing the 5,882 miles between Britain and Tokyo in Japan, where the Olympic Games were held in 2021.
Covid lockdowns meant that Lubrizol’s employees had to come up with imaginative ways of swimming, cycling, rowing and running the distance, before coming together in a series of joint walking challenges.
Lubrizol’s charities and communities committee had set the company a £25,000 target, but staff ended up achieving a significantly greater amount.
Committee co-chair Tom Grazier said at a recent charity day held at its HQ in Hazelwood near Belper: “This donation to Mind is our biggest donation ever as a company, by a significant margin. It’s been a huge effort and it’s down to how much time people have given to this, and at the end of the day, how generous our employees have been.
“From myself on behalf of the committee, thank you to everyone who has been part of this. It really has been amazing to see what we can do when we come together.”
The idea for the “Lubrizol Olympics” came from Chris Hart-Jones, who manages the company’s Barnsley plant. In thanks for his efforts, Chris was crowned with the company’s prestigious Christine Sewell award, given annually to someone who has gone above and beyond in volunteering their time for good causes.
As well as coming up with the idea, Chris’ contribution was to complete 300 miles on his Peloton bike at home, the distance between all of Lubrizol’s sites in the UK.
He said: “Many people find exercise very beneficial for their mental health which is why the idea for the Lubrizol Olympics seemed an appropriate way of raising money for this particular charity.”
Then, when social distancing restrictions were relaxed, Chris organised for Lubrizol staff to come together in several joint walking challenges, including climbing Mount Snowdon; Scafell Pike, the famously gruelling 12-hour Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge and Mam Tor in Derbyshire. For many people who had joined the company during Covid, it was the first time they had actually met in person.
In the end, nearly 70 employees from Lubrizol smashed their original target and achieved 8,542 miles, with more than 800 family, friends’ and colleagues’ support.
Eve Kirkendall, corporate partners officer at Mind, thanked Lubrizol’s employees at their charity day.
She said: “You have raised an absolutely amazing £28,282 during the last two years. We want to thank everyone for taking on these challenges, and a massive well done to all those who got involved.”
The £28,282 raised for Mind could be used to help support a variety of projects, including the charity’s Side by Side online peer support community for an entire month. An average person logs on to this service 12,000 times to share their struggles, find hope and feel less alone. It could also be used for Mind to help 370 children feel less scared and alone, by funding personalised mental health support through the charity’s ‘Whole School Approach’ and to help Mind answer more than 300 enquiries to its Infoline, helping people get the answers they need to believe a brighter future is possible.
As well as donating money to Mind, Lubrizol has also given £11,210 to almost 50 other charities nominated by employees, including Steps conductive education centre in Leicestershire; Belper Mencap; St Peter’s Church Clock in Belper, and the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.
