Leeds City College

Staff at Park Lane Campus put their best foot forward for a 24 hour gym session, raising £339.40 for local mental health charity, Leeds Mind.

From 27 to 28 May, members of the college community were encouraged to donate £3 to the charity or sponsor someone as they take on the challenge.

This fast-paced challenge involved pedalling, cycling, cross-training or rowing within a 30 minute slot at the brand-new Eco-Powr gym. Based at Park Lane Campus, this sustainable fitness space is home to specially designed exercise machines which generate electricity for the college.

Rachael Booth, Principal at Leeds Sixth Form College, rowed to raise money for Mind.

“Supporting students’ mental health has become a real focus for me as a principal. I’m very aware of the impact that the pandemic has had on our students’ emotional wellbeing, as they often cope with uncertainty and new ways of working. This is why gaining MindMate Friendly Status is so important to us at Leeds Sixth Form College.

“I’ve previously raised money through a 24 hour aerobathon for a local children’s intensive care ward, which proved a real success. With this in mind, we thought a fitness fundraiser would be the perfect opportunity to utilise our wonderful new gym. While we took part in the gymathon, we were able to generate energy for the college to power electric bulbs, cut CO2 emissions and therefore generate green energy.”

Staff Ryan Grant, Chris Flint and Will Booth all led on the planning for the event which included planning rotas, creating Go Fund Me pages and ensuring safety and gym instruction plans were in place to make the event run smoothly. Many staff across the campus participated, with Ryan and Will completing an overnight iron man marathon as part of the activity.

“This is the start of many exciting fundraising events to come. It’s been amazing to see many members of staff across Luminate Education Group come together to support this event and share their own experiences of mental health. We have a treasure hunt activity planned for the end of term, where we hope to raise more money for charity.”

The combined effort produced 2,900 watt-hours which equates to keeping one light bulb lit for 138 hours.

Donate through the Park Lane Campus Go Fund Me page here.