Thirteen Leaders directors braved the heat on 6 July to walk 10 miles in fancy dress - from their head office in Worthing to Chestnut Tree House children’s hospice near Arundel - to raise money and awareness for the firm’s charity partner, Together for Short Lives.

Superman, Thor, Wonder Woman, a giant strawberry and a man on an ostrich were among the characters who walked for more than four hours in sweltering heat.

The group raised more than £4,000 which will go towards Leaders’ fundraising target of £50,000 to support seriously ill children and their families when they need it most.

Allison Thompson, managing director at Leaders, said: “Since we partnered with Together for Short Lives in 2015 we’ve been blown away by the enthusiasm and generosity of our staff, customers and business associates for this fantastic cause. The directors and I wanted to do our own challenge to show our support and contribute to our ambitious fundraising target for the year.

“We are so grateful for all the sponsorship and encouragement we received, and for the warm welcome that greeted us when we arrived at Chestnut Tree House. We were given a tour of the hospice, which is a truly inspirational place and makes such an enormous difference to the children and families they care for.

“This is a cause very close to our hearts and we are delighted that through our partnership with Together for Short Lives we are supporting all our local children’s hospices which do such a fantastic job across the UK.”

Terrina Barnes, corporate fundraising manager for Chestnut Tree House, said: “We are so grateful for the amazing support of Leaders and their employees. It’s great to see organisations thinking outside the box when it comes to fundraising, so we didn’t hesitate to welcome the directors to the hospice when they told us about their fancy dress walk. In addition to raising funds, activities like this help to raise awareness of our services, enabling us to reach even more children and families in need of our support.

“It costs well over £3.5 million each year to provide all our specialist care services – both at the hospice and in families’ own homes. Chestnut Tree House receives less than seven per cent of this from central government funding, so we rely heavily on the support of the local community – both individuals and businesses, as well as organisations like Together for Short Lives.

“In addition to its fundraising for Together for Short Lives, Leaders has shown their support in other ways, most recently by volunteering at Chestnut Tree House and getting stuck into a day of gardening. We’d like to say a massive thank you to all the directors at Leaders who took part in the fancy dress walk. The costumes were brilliant and the money raised will make a huge difference.”

Together for Short Lives supports all 54 children’s hospices across the UK, including Chestnut Tree House. Leaders named Together for Short Lives as its charity partner in 2015 and has raised £95,000 for it since then.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/leadersdirectorswalk