Tesco walks from Land’s End to John O’Groats for health charities

Thousands of Tesco colleagues are walking in relay the length of the UK, from Land’s End to John O’Groats, to raise funds and awareness for Diabetes UK and the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

Tesco will today continue its commitment to helping customers and colleagues live healthier lives by setting out on The Great Tesco Walk, a month-long trek between Land’s End and John O’Groats to raise funds for Tesco’s National Charity Partnership with Diabetes UK and the BHF.

The walk will see thousands of Tesco colleagues from across the country join together to walk in relay between 5 September and 5 October, with the aim of adding to the £21 million already raised since the partnership began in 2015, and increasing awareness of these two leading health charities.

Dave Lewis, Group CEO at Tesco said:

“It’s incredibly important we do all we can to help our colleagues and customers live healthier lives. Our partnership with Diabetes UK and the British Heart Foundation has played a significant part in our efforts, helping to inspire more than 17 million people to get more active and eat better.

“I’m looking forward to joining colleagues to walk the first leg of the walk from Land’s End to our store in Penzance. It’s a great way to go the extra mile in our fundraising efforts for these brilliant causes.”
Tesco colleagues from stores, offices and distribution centres are all taking part, with the route broken down into 51 ‘legs’ of 5km, 10km, 25km and 50km. Separate walks are due to take place in Wales and Northern Ireland. The route has been specifically designed to take in as many Tesco stores and distribution centres as possible and will pass around 150 stores along the way.

The walk will also pass through Tesco’s head office in Welwyn Garden City where walkers will be joined by Olympic Gold Medallist, Greg Rutherford. Commenting on the Great Tesco Walk Greg said:

‘I’m really looking forward to cheering on Tesco colleagues when the Great Tesco Walk gets to Welwyn Garden City and I wish everyone taking part from Land’s End to John O’Groats the best of luck. It’s a big challenge and really shows the incredible commitment of Tesco colleagues to raise money and awareness for the important causes supported by the British Heart Foundation and Diabetes UK.’

Since the launch of the Partnership in January 2015, the money raised has helped to:

Launch an innovative healthy lifestyle campaign, ‘Let’s Do This’, which reached 17.5million people across the UK in its first year.
Develop online and local community programmes, which have helped around one million people get more active so far.
Run more intensive support programmes that are demonstrating significant behaviour change in six areas of the UK.
Fund four pieces of groundbreaking academic research to understand more about the risk factors for heart disease and pilot support for children and young people living with Type 1 diabetes

Chris Askew, Chief Executive of Diabetes UK, said:

“We’re so grateful to everyone taking part in The Great Tesco Walk. Once again, Tesco colleagues are demonstrating the truly great lengths they’ll go to in order to raise money and make a difference, and their dedication and commitment to our partnership is awe inspiring.

“The National Charity Partnership has already achieved so much, and we hope the success of The Great Tesco Walk will help us achieve even more together. Good luck to everyone taking part.”

Simon Gillespie, Chief Executive of the British Heart Foundation, said:

“Heart and circulatory disease kills one person every three minutes in the UK. Improving the nation’s heart health is absolutely critical if we are to bring an end to this terrible devastation, as is funding vital research so we can better understand how to prevent heart disease. Tesco colleagues have fundraised tirelessly to support our National Charity Partnership, helping us inspire millions to live a healthier lifestyle. Together we can achieve so much more, and I wish them every success with their latest challenge.”

To boost fundraising for The Great Tesco Walk even further, Tesco is offering customers the opportunity to round up their bill to the nearest 10p, giving up their spare change to support the health charities.