As a family business, deeply rooted in East Anglia, we really feel that our business is part of a wide community and that each local store is a vital part of the flourishing local towns and cities we trade in. We like to get involved with local events, festivals, causes and charities. Each year, we choose a charity to support and for 2014 – 2015 we elected EACH (East Anglian Children’s Hospices) as our main charity (but we are also proud supporters of other charities, both local and national, too.) Many of our stores are involved in The World’s Biggest Coffee Morning, in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support and this weekend will see two of our team swap their Hughes attire for lycra (but let’s not dwell on that part!)
Adam, from our Hughes Plus in Ipswich, is taking part in the Extreme Muddy Race in aid of EACH on the 5th October and we’re proud and think he’s a bit loco, in equal measure. This is a two hour endurance race, covering 7 arduous mud-filled kilometres, with many an obstacle to deal with too (because, as we all know, running 7km through what is essentially a bog is too easy!) Spectators are welcome (and it really is a great day out – particularly when you’re warm, dry, not running through mud and can get a lovely brew) and anyone who wants to sponsor Adam can check his Just Giving page here. We’ll bring you updates and photos soon, in the meantime, here’s Adam mud free!
Following the huge success of last year’s event, the Birkett’s Round Norfolk Relay returns on the weekend of 20th & 21st September and one of our area managers, Malcolm Tuff, will be taking part. We’ll have ice packs and soft cushions at the ready as Malcolm will be part of a team undertaking the annual demanding team relay race around Norfolk. Each team consists of 17 runners who cover 197 miles in 20 to 28 1/2 hrs with stages varying between 5 to 20 miles of unequal, multi-terrain stages. Now, I’m no Carole Vorderman but my maths makes that under 9 mins per mile… every mile… around the coast of Norfolk! If you’re in our sunny Hunny, Thetford or King’s Lynn branches over the weekend and see a determined looking runner streak (not literally) past the window, waving, be sure to wave back – that’s our Malcolm!
The first teams leave King’s Lynn at 5.30am on Saturday morning, racing through the night into Sunday morning, with runners passing the baton on at each stage of the route which traces around the Norfolk coast and then along the county borders.
Since its inception, over 700 teams and almost 13,000 runners have contested the race, with competitors running approximately 150,000 miles. Just writing that number is tiring. Time for a brew – cheers Malcolm & Adam… and GOOD LUCK!
