Waterford business travels 40,000kms ‘Around the World’ to raise funds for mental health

A Waterford business has raised over €16,000 for Mental Health Europe and collectively travelled the equivalent distance of the world’s circumference in an exciting ‘Around the World Challenge’.  

All Hosting Ireland employees, alongside their European team.blue colleagues, took part in the seven-week challenge with a simple premise -  to get more physically active to help promote a healthier lifestyle and reach a group goal of travelling ‘around the world’ together.

Each time an employee participated in physical activity, they were invited to convert that activity into kilometres and for every kilometre logged, team.blue donated 40 cents to Mental Health Europe (MHE).

Whether it was running, walking, cycling, swimming, skiing or any other physical activity, the goal of the Challenge was to inspire and motivate each employee to be more active, whilst also raising awareness about mental health. 

The trip around the world took 40,075 kilometres to complete and raised €16,030 for MHE.

Will Harrison, Technical Director at Hosting Ireland said, “Having happy and proud employees is a big goal of ours at Hosting Ireland and team.blue, so this challenge was perfect for us. 

“Physical activity is such a powerful tool for improving mental health, and it was great to see everyone getting involved and encouraging each other. 

“It was so popular that we’ve continued it on as a general well-being initiative and we are currently debating whether our next challenge should be to travel to the moon and back!”   

Mr Harrison continued: “Although we mainly work virtually with our team.blue colleagues across the UK and Europe, the challenge really brought us closer together and there was a real sense of community. 

“Many employees shared photos of beautiful views from all around the globe, from cycling in Rotterdam, hiking in the Pyrenees, skiing in Italy and gym sessions in Crete, to strolls along the beach in the Algarve and Bangor and even right here in Mount Congreve Gardens!”   

During the ‘Around the World Challenge’ team.blue, also encouraged employees to participate in a ‘Wear It Green Day’ in May as a symbolic gesture of solidarity, commitment, and support for mental health. 

Hosting Ireland, based in Six Cross Roads Business Park, Waterford became a team.blue brand in 2019 - an ecosystem of 40+ successful brands who enable entrepreneurs all around the world to succeed online. As a group, they operate across 15 countries, offering best-in-class expertise and they manage over 5 million domains, host more than 650,000 websites, and provide 2 million email accounts to their customers.