With May now in full swing, we close the curtain on the inaugural Gratte Brothers Active for April month. And what a month it’s been!
As part of the month’s agenda, we ran several active team-building events including yoga, personal training and mini-golf. We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who participated, from our brilliant events partners to each and every one of you who prioritised getting active.
The Active for April team and individual challenges brought out the best of so many, with some true dedication to getting active over the month. Here are the team and top 10 individual tables from the month, alongside the stats from everyone’s activities.
| Position | Team | Average Hours |
| 1 | “Sustainable Runner Beans” | 27:36:14 |
| 2 | “Marketing’s ROI (Really On It)“ | 26:35:47 |
| 3 | “Illusion of Gratteness” | 25:45:41 |
| 4 | “Mud Run Stragglers” | 23:40:00 |
| 5 | “Mission Slimpossible” | 21:23:07 |
| 6 | “Bronywn’s Bees” | 20:47:02 |
| 7 | “Walkman Wombles” | 14:39:55 |
| 8 | “GBSM GE” | 14:20:33 |
| 9 | “Die Lard” | 8:26:04 |
| 10 | “The Oats” | 3:48:32 |
General Stats:
- Total participants: 60
- Total Recorded Activities: 1,688 (56 activities a day)
- Total Duration: 1173:39:26 hrs (49 days of activity)
- Total Elevation: 28,953.24 m (the equivalent of climbing the four tallest peaks in the world!).
- Total Distance: 5,010.01 km (the same distance as Kings Cross HQ to Quebec City, Canada).
Individual Top Performers:
- Most Activities Recorded: Michael, 94
- Most Distance Covered: Richard, 709.32 km
- Most Elevation: Richard, 2,293.4m
Alongside the weekly activities and month-long challenges, we ran several Sporting Spotlights, talking to Gratte Brothers staff about their passion and what it means to be active for them.
Dave | Mud Run Training
Dave united colleagues across the business to enter a mud run, raising money for Guide Dogs. The group keep in touch via a WhatsApp group, holding each other accountable for maintaining their training. Starting up the team resulted in the Gratte Brothers Prefabrication Facility in Chelmsford installing gym equipment, encouraging the whole facility to get more active. Promoting their run within the business has also resulted in the team smashing their fundraising target!
Richard | Cycling
Richard got into cycling during lockdown, building a passion over time. He finds it a great activity to keep him from sitting on the sofa, swapping TV for difficult terrain, hefty hills and fire tracks. Richard utilised the company’s Cycle to Work scheme to get a better bike and grow his passion!
Conor | Gym
Conor started hitting the gym in December 2023, going a few times a week to build a good habit. When he saw the Active for April team challenge, Conor decided to push himself and go to the gym every day in April. By keeping his end-goal for each session in mind, Conor smashed his target and completed a full month in the gym. Overall, Conor clocked over 98 hours in the gym and walking to and from his workouts.
Francesca | Yoga
For Francesca, yoga is her go-to activity, finding it an intuitive form of fitness that listens to your body, allowing you to feel more in tune with yourself. It’s an easy activity to fit in with her schedule as you can do yoga almost anywhere and for however long you want. Best of all, different types of yoga cater for all energy levels and ranges of movement!
Annette | Salsa
Annette put on her dancing shoes when she wanted a low-impact, enjoyable activity that gets you on your feet. It’s a very social activity that caters for all levels of experience and movement. Being easy on the back and knees means people of all ages enjoy it, whether you are 18 or 75!
James | Skiing
James goes out skiing once a month over weekends. He uses his passion for the mountains to keep motivated with training when he’s not skiing, focusing on aspects like endurance and agility to ski his best when out. James even claims skiing isn’t as expensive as people make it out to be, explaining his methods for keeping costs down and time on the slopes up.
Aneta | Surfing
Aneta got into surfing back in 2018, booking a parent & child surf lesson. Since then, her enthusiasm for the sport continues to grow, making surfing a regular weekend activity throughout the year. She admits it’s hard work, but simultaneously very addictive and a great way to get in tune with nature. Summer months are filled with trips to the coast, reaching far and wide in England and abroad.
With the arrival of May (and dare we say it, some warmer weather), we hope that the positive habits formed over the past month with stick with us all. We’re thrilled to have heard from several people that Active for April has helped them get back in touch with old hobbies, and made them feel better in themselves, so, here’s to a marvellous May filled with movement!
