Bowman Ingredient teams raise nearly £6k for Oxfam

Bowman Ingredient teams raise nearly £6k for Oxfam

At Bowman Ingredients we’re used to blazing a trail when it comes to our coatings, but this September, members of our team blazed a trail of a different kind, raising a huge amount of money for Oxfam in the process.

Oxfam’s Trailwalker challenge is an incredible undertaking. Teams must make their way 100km non-stop across the South Downs Way – in under 30 hours. Its origins lie in a Gurkha military training exercise, originally taking place in Hong Kong in 1981. When the Queen’s Gurkha Signals moved from Hong Kong to the UK, Trailwalker came too, later opening up to civilians to raise money in support of Oxfam and the Gurkha Welfare Trust. It’s still a key part of the Gurkhas’ training exercises today – so it’s no mean feat!

Teams arrive at the Queen Elizabeth Country Park on the Friday, to relax, fuel up from the army field kitchen, and camp for the night ready for what the next day holds. After a hot breakfast teams set off in waves early Saturday morning. Teams are not on their own though, with support crews stationed at regular checkpoints with food, drink, encouragement and whatever the walkers need to keep them going!

Two intrepid Bowman Ingredients teams took part. We originally sent two teams of four though unfortunately two people got Covid and had to step out, and one of the support crew valiantly stepped in! So in the end there was a team of 3 women and a team of 4 men taking part.

Their goal was to raise £4000, which they absolutely smashed! They’d hit their £4k target before the race even started, and by the time they finished it was £5,600! We’re now at £5.75K – and counting…

What truly incredible achievement. We couldn’t be prouder of their epic efforts – a massive well done from all of us here at Bowman Ingredients.