5th Of April by Sam Torr

Staff at the P&A Group, a timber manufacturer based in Mold, took on the challenge of running a grueling 26-mile route in the Manchester Marathon.

Employees from every department, all at different levels of fitness committed themselves to completing the run and all 25 of them crossed the finish line on Sunday.

The Group have already raised over £8,500 for Cancer Research since they began fundraising in February and are well on the way to meeting their £10,000 target.

As a growing company P&A are committed to employee fitness and long-term well-being as well as supporting the community and raising money for charity.

The Manchester Marathon was the ideal opportunity to do both, and the company are proud that they have been able to raise such a large amount for the charity.

Managing Director Steve Morgan described it as a “huge success” for the company that everyone was able to go from training to completion.

“I am so proud of all of our staff who took part not only on the day but also in the lead up to the marathon,” Steve said.

“We’ve all trained so hard and put so much in to this and to experience it with everyone on the day made it a real team success.

“It has been a huge challenge and we all have very sore legs the day after, but knowing we are able to raise money for such a good cause makes it all worthwhile.”

The company supplied twice weekly training sessions with a personal trainer at 7am in their warehouse in Mold, and all staff committed and worked as a team to motivate each other. They were also joined by three of their Polish suppliers in the marathon.

Steve wanted to thank everyone who contributed towards the marathon success.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who donated – our customers, our suppliers and friends of P&A because without their generosity and support this wouldn’t have been possible,” he added.

Cancer Research UK is the company’s chosen charity for 2017 as many of their staff and close friends of have faced the impact of cancer. Also, one member of their staff is currently undertaking treatment for cancer and the company want to show their support.

They also ran in memory of Howard Hughes who worked at P&A but passed away last year.

Louise Aubrey, Cancer Research UK’s Senior Local Fundraising Manager said: “P&A put in lots of preparation and training for the marathon and we are extremely grateful that they have chosen Cancer Research UK as their charity for 2017.

“We can’t thank them enough for all their support and it is great to hear that all of the employees managed to finish the marathon.”

Andrew Baker, Financial Director at P&A said: “Thanks from everyone for your support yesterday, seeing the team on the sidelines with their flags really gave us all a massive boost.

“It was tough to say the least, but we are so glad that we were all able to complete it together and it’s just great to see the hard work and training pay off on the day.”

To donate and help P&A reach their target, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/P-A-Group-and-Zest4Leisure