Sunderland call centre workers help raise thousands for Macmillan Cancer Support

A group of call centre workers have used pedal power to raise money for a charity close to their hearts.
Crossing the finish lineCrossing the finish line
Crossing the finish line

Five employees from npower’s Rainton office on Wearside took on their own ‘Tour de France’ and successfully cycled from London to Paris to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

In total, 40 cyclists from across all npower sites raised almost £30,000 for the charity, exceeding their target significantly. The firm will match the figure to reach a grand total of £60,000.

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Stephanie Walker, head of governance, risk and control at npower, said “Signing up for this challenge has long been on my bucket list and Macmillan is a charity close to my heart. It’s an opportunity too good to be missed.”

The epic 184-mile ride began in London with the team gearing up to cycling through the ‘Garden of England’ to Newhaven.

From there, they took the ferry to Dieppe and had a chance to rest up before powering on to their hotel for the evening.

Day two took them from Dieppe to Beauvais, covering 75 miles, passing through many picturesque French villages on the way.

All smiles en routeAll smiles en route
All smiles en route
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And finally, on day three, they rode all the way to the final stop, to the Eiffel Tower after sampling the visual delights of the Champs Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe along the way.

Brian Queen, service manager at npower added: “I feel great, just made it to the Eiffel Tower before it was closed down for the Bastille Day celebrations, with a great sense of achievement and great camaraderie throughout the event.

“I’d love to do this again.”

Catrin Hale, senior partnership development manager at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “We are delighted to see npower employees once again taking on such an incredible challenge to raise money for Macmillan.

“As the number of people living with cancer in the UK continues to rise, the efforts of our supporters at npower will help us be there for even more people who need us. The money raised will be used to provide Macmillan with fuel grants to help people living with cancer who are struggling with their energy bills.”

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npower and Macmillan have been working together for more than 14 years and have helped more than 34,000 families with cancer keep warm without worrying about the cost.

npower’s Macmillan Fund caps energy bills and writes off debt for eligible customers who are living with cancer and npower also supports Macmillan’s Energy Advice Team, which offers help and guidance for people, regardless of their energy supplier.