Steptember - Cerebral Palsy Fundraiser

This month has been one of the most productive months my team have ever had. During September, rebadged Steptember, my team aimed to walk over 10,000 steps per day and raise money and awareness for Cerebral Palsy . . . but it was easy to forget that when middling in the mire of competition between teams, as too it seems to a few other hundred teams in the organisation since only a few days ago, with $0 raised, our team were languishing in 450th place. Having chucked in $50, we immediately left to 250th. More on that later!

Harassing For Money

​We also had exercise bikes set-up in the foyer, with 8 of us taking 30 minutes stints and imploring our passing employees to give generously. And indeed they did, raising an incredible $800 on the day in our hefty plastic donation bucket. I for one found myself particularly adept in badgering, harassing and cajoling my colleagues into giving away any extra coins. There was something extravagantly wicked in shouting someone’s name from 30 metres away across an echoing foyer, that this person, this person right here, was a generous and wonderful human with a big heart and would of course donate to such a wonderful cause. Embarrassed and humbled, they would of course have no other recourse but to donate. It was wonderful. For my past life as a Town Cryer still rings deep in my veins. 

Enhancing Your Team

​Whilst the team have thoroughly enjoyed the competition amongst one another (being a team of 16, we had 4 teams), there was another interesting side effect. We had numerous team members that initially believed the entire task was too daunting, immediately writing themselves off when I told that 30 minutes of walking only equated to about 3000. However, as the days rolled by, the team upped their game, often exceeding the step-count. This in turn increased their confidence, which made them walk more and believe in themselves. As they walked more and exercised more, they lost weight, and seeing the difference, some started taking gym-classes, riding the wave of their new-found self-belief.

Raising Money for Charity

It was a wonderful month to be part of, and hopefully something that will have a lasting effect on my team. Since I first enrolled in a step-competition over two years ago, I have stuck to the regime, where, initially, I struggled to make 6000 steps a day. During this month of Steptember, I have tried to lead by example, nagging my team and increasing my own steps to 15-25,000 a day, in one particular occasion notching 30,000 in a single day which was the biggest total I have ever walked. I lost 2 kilos in the process and often caused lots of pain to my aching feet – but never mind that!

So Steptember increased the confidence of my team, made them address their own health, made them take more meetings in the park or skip a train-stop on the way home, raise awareness for a fabulous charity, and helped the company and its employees donate over $200k for a worthy cause.  Probably one of the best month’s work I’ve ever done.
 
For more information please view https://www.steptember.org.au/ - every dollar raised will provide vital equipment, therapy and services to children and adults living with cerebral palsy.