Challenge Derbyshire was launched in 2015 by David Hopkins, the chief executive of M Markovitz, the successful regional builders’ merchant with headquarters in Tideswell.
The event was initially organised as a team-building activity for the employees, with the aim of raising £100,000 for charity within four years.
The target was achieved in just four months and attracted the attention of companies across the region who were keen to get involved.
By 2020 Challenge Derbyshire, by then operating as a stand-alone charitable organisation, had raised £1m and to date they have raised £1.5m for three charities: Helen’s Trust, Blyth House Hospicecare (which recently merged with Helen’s Trust) and Ashgate Hospice.
Uniquely, the charity donates 100% of every penny raised to the three charities. Volunteers help to run the charity and to organise various fundraising events; members of their business club provide all the resources needed to ensure that charity continues to operate with no running costs, further reinforcing the links between the local businesses and the three charities that they are ultimately supporting.
