PureGym Staffers Raise £105K+ for Heart Health
From cycling across Ireland to a lap around the White House, PureGym employees went the distance to raise funds for heart health organizations
PureGym has raised more than £105,000 (~$134,400) for heart health charities after thousands of employees across four countries logged over 431,000 kilometers in a weeklong fundraising challenge that far outpaced expectations.
The U.K.-based gym operator, which has more than 1.5 million members and over 420 clubs, originally sought to raise £100,000 during its Every Beat Counts 100K challenge by covering 100,000 kilometers through physical activity between June 12 and June 19. But with more than 6,000 employees participating across the U.K., Switzerland, Denmark and the U.S., the gym operator shattered both its distance and fundraising targets as it covered 431,000 kilometres.
Last year, the low-price fitness operator finalized its acquisition of Blink Fitness, completing a $121 million deal to rebrand 67 New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania-area Blink Fitness gyms to PureGym.
Stand-out performers included a U.K. team that cycled 636 miles across Ireland and another that completed the National Three Peaks Challenge. In Switzerland, teams climbed 21 kilometers in the Zurich mountains. In Denmark, employees canoed 21 kilometers from Himmelbjerget to Lyngby on the Mølle Å river. In the U.S., participants walked a lap around the White House.
“It is an enormous achievement to have completed our Every Beat Counts 100k Challenge and to have raised such a substantial sum for heart health charities,” PureGym chief marketing officer Stephen Rowe said. “We recognize the pivotal role that exercise plays in supporting heart health, and together our charity partners are on a mission to inspire people to improve their wellbeing and their heart health. I am hugely proud of every single PureGym team member, across four countries, for their efforts and for working together to make every beat count.”
The money raised will support the British Heart Foundation as well as national heart health organizations in PureGym’s other core markets: the Swiss Heart Foundation, Danish Heart Foundation and American Heart Association.
“We are hugely grateful to PureGym and all the team members who took part in the Every Beat Counts 100K challenge,” BHF chief executive Dr. Charmaine Griffiths said. “Their incredible fundraising efforts will help power our groundbreaking research into cardiovascular disease. “Every three minutes, someone in the UK dies from a cardiovascular disease. Partnerships like PureGym are vital to BHF, and the dedication of its members to help us save and improve lives really does make a difference.”