St Andrews community challenged to raise £2022 in 2022

The University of St Andrews Saints Sport team kicked off a £2022 charity challenge this week calling on 2022 students, staff and members of the St Andrews community to walk, cycle, run or row 2022 miles by the beginning of March.

Saints Sport has once again signed up to the British Inspiration Trust’s BRIT Challenge which supports young adult mental health and fitness in the UK through the delivery of the annual BRIT Challenge. The Saints Sport team hope to encourage as many people as possible across the St Andrews community – at least 2022 people – to get involved.

The 2022 challenge will see proceeds split between BRIT Challenge charities that support young adult mental health and fitness across the UK, and the University-backed Volunteer Zambia project charity, the Perfect Day Foundation.

To encourage involvement across the community Saints Sport staff will be taking a rowing machine and exercise bike to various locations over the course of the Challenge, including the Students’ Association, Walter Bower House, halls of residence and Schools.

Duncan Caithness, Assistant Director (Sports Development) with Saints Sport, hopes as many students, staff and members of the local community sign up to this BRIT Challenge and complete as many miles as they can.

He said: “We know the pandemic has had an impact on young people’s mental health and the ability of charities to fundraise normally, for example, by staging events like this. I’m really pleased we have been able to launch the BRIT Challenge this week; it’s a great way for participants to be involved in something positive, feel better and help raise cash for two brilliant sports-related charities.”

Duncan added: “We would encourage as many participants as possible to complete their miles and donate their money either in person at Saints Sport or online via the GoFundMe page. We are suggesting a minimum of one mile and a minimum donation of £1 but of course, the more participants can raise the more we can donate to these fantastic causes.

“The whole Saints Sport team will be encouraged to take part, including many of our sport scholars. Sports clubs and societies will also be challenged to complete as many miles as they can remotely or in person. We will be advertising the challenge and providing updates on progress towards the fundraising goal via our social media channels.”

In 2019, BRIT Challenge fundraiser and CEO Phil Packer visited the University of St Andrews to launch ‘Row Britannia’, an inclusive and adaptive sport challenge encouraging teams across the UK to row 2020 miles to raise vital funds and increase positive awareness of mental health issues for students and young people.

It is hoped that Phil and other BRIT Ambassadors, including Scottish international field hockey player Emily Dark, currently in her fourth year studying physics at the University of St Andrews, will join in the challenge at some point over the next few weeks.