Climbing ‘Everest’ – Arkessa mega fundraising challenge for RugbyWorks

It’s been an interesting time for us all recently, and we’ve all had to come up with innovative ideas on how we can keep ourselves motivated, whilst ensuring we give back in a time of need.

This is certainly true of the brilliant team at Arkessa! Arkessa is a leading pioneer in Internet of Things (IOT) connectivity services, supporting the full spectrum of Internet of Things applications to their customers across the world - and they have been using their smarts and brawn to fundraise for us here at RugbyWorks.

The fundraising idea sprang to mind following a series of virtual ‘get-togethers’ and activities Arkessa had been running throughout the period of Lockdown, as Meghan Davies, Head of Marketing, explains:

“Being active and spending time with each other as a team are two really big features of being part of Arkessa, so the impact that lockdown had on us as a group meant that we needed to find innovative ways for us to maintain our social connection and keep each other’s spirits up remotely.

“We didn’t need any encouragement to establish a whole social calendar early on in lockdown – including everything from team yoga classes twice a week on Zoom to a Green Fingers Club where everyone proudly posted photos of their tomatoes. We even had a Bring Your Pet to Work group where the Arkessa dogs have found fame!”

PLEASE DONATE TO THE ARKESSA EVEREST CHALLENGE HERE

So how did those team get-togethers turn into a mountain of a challenge for RugbyWorks?

“The Arkessa Team are always up for a really difficult challenge so ‘Everesting’ really appealed to us,” Meghan continued.

“But doing it in one day was a bit much and we wanted to raise awareness of RugbyWorks and incorporate the team element into it as well.”

Everesting is a challenge where participants cycle continuously up and down the same climb until they’ve accumulated the elevation of Mount Everest (8,848m). It sounded like seriously hard work for the team at Arkessa, but they found a way of coming together to ease the pain through the four-week challenge.

“We used online collaboration tools and team chats to keep each other motivated, and the team-focused nature of the challenge meant that it was open to everyone, however many metres they managed to climb. Of course the downside was that we would have all loved to finish the challenge together with a celebration, and Zoom pubs are just not quite the same thing…”

“The Everest challenge was perfect for giving everyone a shared goal while helping the whole team to stay active. We were delighted to be able to support the Dallaglio RugbyWorks charity – and the vital work that you guys do really got us up those mammoth hills!

And Arkessa certainly went above and beyond for the challenge, going up and down Everest continuously not only once, but more than three times. We were honoured to be chosen as the charity that the team push through the pain barrier for and Meghan detailed why they put in such an incredible effort for us.

“Our CEO Andrew Orrock has been a long-term supporter of RugbyWorks and is raising funds again this coming Spring as a Core Rider on the Dallaglio Cycle Slam. Andrew has visited some of the Pupil Referral Units and met the young people that RugbyWorks helps and witnessed first-hand the differences the incredible mentors make to their lives.

“We have been thrilled to see some of the success stories and believe that supporting this is now even more critical as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.”

Andrew’s support of RugbyWorks over the years has been vital for us to succeed with hundreds of young people across England and Wales, and it was his words which summed up the great efforts of him and his team at Arkessa.

“Through RugbyWorks, we truly have an opportunity to make a transformational difference to young people’s lives. The delivery of this exceptional programme is only possible through the generosity of supporters and hard work of the RugbyWorks team.

“Lawrence (Dallaglio) often says, ‘You are what you’re exposed to’ and he is right. As a community, a family, we are privileged to have love, support and structure around us.  Not everyone has that same privilege and RugbyWorks makes it possible to go some way to redressing that balance. That’s why it was brilliant our team at Arkessa could support the charity in such a unique way.”

We were delighted to be chosen as the charity for this incredible challenge and we cannot say thank you enough!

So we’ll say it just once more…THANK YOU ARKESSA!