A marathon effort from Loans Warehouse!

Every year, Loans Warehouse, the specialist loan broker, sets its directors, staff and supporters in the industry a fitness challenge in January to counter the excesses of Christmas’s conspicuous consumption. At the same time, the challenge is linked to raising money for a charity chosen by Loans Warehouse team members. This year, New Hope was chosen and the challenge was for everyone to run 26.2 miles (a marathon) over the course of January.

Matt Tristram, Loans Warehouse Co-Founder, said:

“Here we are in lockdown with so many of us suffering the effects of the pandemic, whether financial or mental and particularly those who have lost family and friends. So, it is understandable that we might become inward looking in the face of COVID-19.

In normal times, many of us tend to believe or hope that someone else or some official body will help those less fortunate, so we don’t have to.

However, if there is one important thing our challenge has proved it is the extraordinary capacity of people in our industry to reach out and help others. We might not be on the front line, like New Hope’s volunteers, but the money donated and each weary mile run is a testament to the desire to help.

Small, unsung charities like New Hope are doing fantastic work all over the country and while this 2021 Challenge aims to raise money for the here and now, if it acts as a catalyst to encourage more of us to look beyond ourselves and donate on a regular basis or volunteer to help others, our country and our own lives will be infinitely richer.”

It’s been a challenging year for New Hope but one silver lining has been the amazing support of our local community, particularly this outstanding fundraising endeavour from the Loans Warehouse team. We are absolutely overwhelmed by the amount raised and so grateful. As a charity, we are dependent on donations from members of the public and fundraising events and the money raised will help people who are experiencing homelessness in Watford get back on their feet again.