Runaway success for half marathoners

Wed, 16 Nov 2011

Sixteen LaSer UK employees formed part of a 15,000 strong crowd of runners that took to the streets of Birmingham on Sunday 23rd October, running 13.1 miles (21km) in aid of our nominated charity Teenage Cancer Trust.

The team was formed as part of the LaSer UK Make a Difference programme, which encourages wellbeing in the workplace and gives employees the opportunity to support charitable causes.

Even though most of the group were new to running and had never taken on anything like a half marathon before, everyone made it across the finishing line in good time and all were still smiling as they crossed it.

Andrea Pullen, Communications Executive at LaSer UK, said: “Crossing the finishing line of the half marathon was one of the proudest moments of my life.

“When I started training three months ago I could barely run half a mile, and for a long time I just couldn’t see how I would ever be able to run 13.1 miles. But I ran the whole half marathon in a time that I’m very pleased with, proving that anyone who sets their mind to something can achieve it!

“The atmosphere on the day was incredible and the supporters lining the streets really put a smile on my face as they shouted encouragement and handed out sweets and water. I’m already making plans to take part again next year as I want to relive the huge high.”

Richard Smithies, sponsor of LaSer UK’s Make A Difference Committee added “It was a fantastic achievement by everybody involved and a further demonstration of what we can achieve through our Make a Difference programme.”

The fundraising brings the total raised so far for Teenage Cancer Trust, which was nominated by employees at the Solihull HQ as the charity of the year for 2011, to £17,640 with many more activities planned throughout the year.

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Notes for Editors:

About LaSer UK
LaSer UK is part of the LaSer Group, jointly owned by BNP Paribas, the global retail and investment bank, and Galeries Lafayette, Europe’s leading retailer. From its Solihull office, LaSer UK provides a range of credit and loyalty services, including credit cards, store cards, loyalty programmes and fixed term credit products. LaSer UK operates as Creation Financial Services, Creation Consumer Finance and Sygma Bank UK. 

The company has operations in Solihull and Belfast employing over 740 people and has developed almost 40 years experience of working with UK consumers and currently manages more than 4 million customers and over 200 UK partnerships, financing over £1.4 billion in credit per annum. Its operations are UK based with operational centres in Solihull and Belfast and its current clients include Flybe, Everton FC, Selfridges & Co, M&Co, All Saints, Dell, Dixons Retail, DFS, ScS, Dreams, Argos, Homebase, and Ultralase.

For more information go to www.laseruk.com