Pace takes on The Drop for charity
A stripped-back navigation challenge with no map, no GPS and no help – participants get dropped at an undisclosed location, 10 miles from York, and must make their way back.
Here’s what happened when six members of Team Pace took part in The Drop to raise vital funds for Hull and East Yorkshire Children’s University (HEY CU).
The Drop starts with participants handing over all electronic devices, watches and navigational aids. They are given a race number, a sealed emergency bag, a tracker and a blindfold before getting on a bus.
They are then dropped, with only five hours to get back.
So, how did Pace prepare?
Caz, our senior client director, said: “I planned on getting my survival kit out of the loft and then ran out of time, so I went really heavy on the food.”
She wasn’t joking – her backpack contained a flask of tea, water, nuts, scotch eggs, prawn sandwiches, Freddo chocolate and crisps. And some gin and tonic.
“Oh, I also researched how to read the sun with a shadow and a stick,” she added.
Client director Amy said: “I went to the camping shop to get my foil blanket because we were given a list of things to bring, I underestimated what it was going to be like.”
Caz explained: “The drop is 10 miles away as the crow flies, so the bus ride took about 20 minutes and it must have looked insane from the outside, with everyone on a bus wearing orange blindfolds.”
Amy said: “I really didn’t like having the blindfold on, I was relieved to take it off, but then it hit me that I didn’t recognise where I was.”
The group was dropped at a farm near Alne, north of York, though they didn’t know this at the time.
Other groups taking part in the challenge started running immediately after getting off the bus, but Pace had a different approach.
Caz described it: “We didn’t want to follow the crowd, so once everyone had dispersed and it was a bit calmer, we knocked on the door of a nearby house for directions.
“We felt quite smug because we spotted a sign soon afterwards. After asking for further directions from some local anglers, a man at a caravan park and a pub – all of whom gave us different information but ultimately told us we were heading the right way – we arrived at a farm.
“The farmer there said we had gone wrong, ‘it’s a dead-end’, so we followed all his directions, but in hindsight we should have carried on.
“We ended up going way out the way, before the event organiser tracked us down and told us we had been all over the place.”
They were encouraged to stop, as they had already walked for seven hours and it was another two and a half hours to get back to the base. The group were disappointed, but had walked over 40,000 steps!
“It was sad, we were trying so hard and did the best we could, but we still felt a sense of achievement,” PR and comms manager Hannah said.
Amy agreed: “It was such good experience – it was nice to spend time with people at work, and we all trusted each other. There were no arguments, though maybe if there had been we would have been home sooner!”
The group recalled funny moments of working together, eating Percy Pigs and watching each other jump over ditches.
Pace’s head of strategy Becci said: “It’s funny looking back – at one point we were all excited to see the sign for a village called Huby. We’d been walking through fields for so long that just seeing a sign was exciting.”
The team walked the furthest of any group, breaking an event record despite not making it back to base.
Hayley, Pace’s senior social and content manager, said: “It was challenging but really fun. I couldn’t imagine a better team to do it with because we kept each other going.”
HEY CU gives children living in disadvantaged areas of Hull and East Yorkshire opportunities they otherwise would not have had. It offers them a chance to discover their interests and talents, ensuring they know about all the pathways into careers. The charity believes every child is good at something.
Hayley said: “I am proud we raised a lot of funds, and the pot has gone up, it is a great charity.
“This is the second thing I have done for them, and I got to see the children and the positive effect it has on them.”
The event was part of a wider Elements Challenge, a year-long fundraising adventure, made up of four challenges. Each represents one of the elements: water, wind, earth and fire. It has been designed for individuals and workplaces to challenge themselves, all whilst raising money for HEY CU.
Becci said: “It’s a very worthwhile charity to be raising money for and something very close to everyone’s hearts because it’s helping children in the city we call home.”
