Staff at the UK’s biggest power station took to unique exercise bikes to raise more than a thousand pounds in an afternoon for a heart charity – making healthy fruit drinks as they pedalled.
The fund-raising challenge at Drax Power Station, near Selby in North Yorkshire, saw dozens of people at the site riding two specially-designed smoothie bikes, each pedalling furiously for 30 seconds to set the best time on the day.
Cheered on by colleagues, each half-minute burst produced a healthy fruit smoothie via a mixer fitted to the front of the bike for the event, which raised money for the British Heart Foundation, one of four charities which Drax staff have chosen to support in 2019.
Each smoothie cyclist, including Chief Executive Andy Koss, had 30 seconds to pedal as far as possible on a digital timer and distance recorder – before enjoying the refreshing strawberry, mango or peach smoothie drink they had created through their efforts.
In total, the team, most of whom dressed in red for the day, raised £1,019 for the charity, which also included money raised from a hamper raffle and other donations on the day from generous non-cyclists.
Experts from the British Heart Foundation were also on site throughout the day in the power station’s canteen area to give free health and heart checks to members of the Drax team.
The event was the first of a number of fundraising initiatives this year at the power station – the largest decarbonisation project in Europe – where the team raised funds for over 50 different charities in 2018.
Andy Koss, who cycled 0.38 miles in his 30 seconds, said:
“It’s great to see so many of the team having a go and raising money for a great cause, which ultimately is what this is all about. The event has been a lot of fun, and it’s an excellent start to 2019’s fundraising initiatives.”
Vicky Bullivant, Group Head of Sustainable Business added,
“We’re really proud of the money we’ve been able to raise in previous years but this year, our team have said they want to do even more and this is the first chance to take on that challenge.
“The British Heart Foundation is a great cause and the smoothie bike challenge was a great way to help people stay healthy and have a little fun as well during their day. We’re all already looking forward to the next challenge.”
The team at Drax have chosen four charities to support during 2019, with the British Heart Foundation joined by Children in Need, Macmillan Cancer Support and The Alzheimer’s Society.
ENDS
Media contacts:
Ali Lewis
Drax Group Head of Media & PR
E: [email protected]
T: 07712670888
Jessica Gorton
Drax Group Press Officer
E: [email protected]
T: 07712677177
About Drax
Drax Group’s ambition is to enable a zero carbon, lower cost energy future. Its 2,600-strong staff operate across three principal areas of activity – electricity generation, electricity sales to business customers and compressed wood pellet production.
Power generation:
Drax owns and operates a portfolio of flexible, low carbon and renewable electricity generation assets across Britain. The assets include the UK’s largest power station, based at Selby, North Yorkshire, which supplies six percent of the country’s electricity needs.
Having converted two thirds of Drax Power Station to use sustainable biomass instead of coal it has become the UK’s biggest renewable power generator and the largest decarbonisation project in Europe.
Its pumped storage, hydro and energy from waste assets in Scotland include Cruachan Power Station – a flexible pumped storage facility within the hollowed-out mountain Ben Cruachan. It also owns and operates four gas power stations in England.
B2B supply:
Drax owns two B2B energy supply businesses:
- Haven Power, based in Ipswich, supplies electricity and energy services to large Industrial and Commercial sector businesses.
- Opus Energy, based in Oxford, Northampton and Cardiff, provides electricity, energy services and gas to small and medium sized (SME) businesses.
Pellet production:
Drax owns and operates three pellet mills in the US South which manufacture compressed wood pellets (biomass) produced from sustainably managed working forests. These pellet mills supply around 20% of the biomass used by Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire to generate flexible, renewable power for the UK’s homes and businesses.
For more information visit www.drax.com
