In aid of three Oxfordshire-based charities, three employees of HealthScience communications consultancy Oxford PharmaGenesis scaled the three highest peaks in England, Scotland and Wales within 24 hours comprising the Trifecta 3Peaks Challenge. This initiative, the brainchild of Michael Wellborn of CIS Ltd and Kim Wager of Oxford PharmaGenesis, was launched last year with the aim of encouraging businesses to make a difference in their local area.
“It’s amazing what can happen following a casual conversation between two people in the gym,” said Kim Wager. “Michael asked for my support, which I immediately gave, and we soon approached local business leaders with the idea – they enthusiastically signed up to commit their time to training, fundraising and a weekend for the event itself.”
Trifecta team member and Group Communications Director at Oxford PharmaGenesis Paul Farrow explained, “We spent 1100 miles on the road, hiked 25 miles and climbed 10 000 ft to complete the extreme challenge. The feeling of achievement at the finish line on the summit of Snowdon was pure exhilaration, but Trifecta was much more than this – it was a 9-month journey of many hours, miles, emotions and memories shared with amazing people who were all determined to make a difference in our community.”
The name Trifecta is imbued with the notion of threes: three great challenges, three sponsors, three peaks and three charities. Trifecta is noteworthy because it brings together the founding sponsors Oxford PharmaGenesis, B4 Business and CIS Ltd with a wider group of business professionals to demonstrate leadership in social responsibility. Kim explained the rationale behind the selection of charities, which also makes this initiative special. “We chose three local charities – Oxford Children’s Hospital, Headway Oxfordshire and the Mulberry Bush School – because they often get overlooked in the face of massive competition from well-resourced charities. We wanted to see the benefits of our work in the local community.”
Last week, all 18 members of the Trifecta team celebrated their achievement at TrifectaFest, which was hosted by B4 Business at the Weston Library in Oxford. The audience of over 100 business leaders heard from the beneficiaries about the life-changing work they do, and the Trifecta team was proud to present cheques totalling £22 500 to help the charities continue their work. The Trifecta team are now fully recovered and planning their next great challenge for charity.
