Enable New Zealand staff walk the talk

14/04/2011 | Oxfam Trailwalker

A team of four Enable New Zealand staff are now relaxing after doing the Oxfam Trailwalker challenge last Saturday.

This annual Oxfam fundraising event challenged teams of four people to walk 100km in 36 hours. Unlike a relay, team members walked together for the entire 100km Taupo course. The course took teams across farm land, through forests, along mountain bike trails and around the Taupo lake front.

The members of Enable New Zealand’s team were: Liz Price, Finance Team Lead and Team Lead for the Oxfam Team; Jane Gordon, System Analyst; Heather Matheson, Finance Administrator; Heather Browning, General Manager.

Calling themselves the ‘Eight legged groove machine’ they’ve raised over $3,000. To enter, teams had to commit to raising at least $2000 to support Oxfam in New Zealand.

Liz Price said: “In true Enable New Zealand spirit we have received incredible support from our work colleagues. They’ve given us heaps of encouragement while we’ve trained and generously supported our fundraising efforts by buying raffle tickets, lollies, home-grown herb plants, scones and other home baking. They have also sponsored our walk. "

“This experience, the training, the fundraising and doing the challenge, has been huge for the four of us. We have all gotten so much out of this – learning more about ourselves, helping each other to achieve our goal and having some amazing fun. We put everything we had into this and we were supported awesomely by our support team who kept us watered, fed, and massaged throughout the event."

“Through our training and doing the walk we’ve all been living MidCentral District Health Board’s vision of ‘Quality Living – Healthy Lives’, and that’s awesome. "

“Thinking of the people we [Enable New Zealand] represent who live with disability every day has helped us overcome the aches and pains and tiredness we have experienced while training for this challenge.”

Unfortunately two of the four were forced to retire at the 64 km mark due to injuries however Heather Matheson and Jane Gordon walked the entire 100 km.

Enable New Zealand Background

Enable New Zealand is an operating division of MidCentral District Health Board. It delivers a range of services for older and disabled people. These services are contracted by the Ministry of Health, ACC and some other District Health Boards.

Enable New Zealand is:

• the biggest provider of equipment and housing modification services for the health and disability sector in New Zealand
• the largest provider of disability information services in New Zealand
• home to Supportlinks Needs Assessment and Service Coordination Service.

Oxfam Trailwalker background

Go to http://www.oxfam.org.nz/oxfam_trailwalker/

Contact: Communications Unit (06) 350-8945