Southend Metro Bank Colleagues Undertake Charity Bikeathon
Six colleagues from the UK’s community bank, Metro Bank, burnt off all their Easter Egg calories by undertaking a mammoth charity cycling challenge at Metro Bank’s Southend store in aid of the Little Heroes ASD Support Group.
The Little Heroes Support Group is a parent led support group established in 2011 for families of children who are on the autistic spectrum in Southend-On-Sea and surrounding areas. Little Heroes is a registered charity providing support and assistance for local families.
To raise money, Southend Metro Bank colleagues James Farmer, Will Alston, Ryan O’Leary, Kim Keeble, Danielle Plummer and Holly Pulham each cycled for an hour on the static bike, which was located at the front of the store to grab the community’s attention.
“By the end of the day we were all very red faced and staggering round the store due to our fatigued legs, but we managed to raise over £100 for this charity which will be used to help so many families,” said Southend Metro Bank’s Store Manager, James Farmer. “Everyone really enjoyed the challenge, our customers and colleagues generously supported us and we will definitely be planning another one again soon.”
Neurodivergent refers to people who associate with Autism, Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, ADHD, Dyspraxia and Dysgraphia, amongst other conditions. Around 12 million people in the UK are estimated to be neurodivergent – that’s up to 20% of the total population.
Metro Bank is one of the founding charter members of Neurodiversity in Business – a new industry forum to support the participation of neurodivergent individuals in the workplace.
“We are proud to be a founding charter member of this new industry forum,” commented Simi Dubb, Director of Colleague Experience and Inclusion, Metro Bank. “As a first step, we will be raising awareness of neurodiversity across Metro Bank through a range of channels. Acknowledging that differences in how the brain processes information is normal and quite common – this is a much needed step in the right direction.”
Metro Bank’s Southend store can be found at G19-G21 The Victoria Centre, SS1 2NG. The store is currently open Monday – Saturday 08:30am - 6pm. Sunday: 11am - 5pm.