WORKMATES have saddled up in solidarity with a colleague who is recovering from a stroke by raising thousands for charity.
Seven employees at Cemex’s UK head office in Rugby got on their bikes and rode to Paris in three days, raising over £5,500 for the Stroke Association.
After paving solutions business manager Matthew Crowder suffered a massive stroke in March, colleagues Rebecca Wright, Colin Jones, Emma Wright, Rob Greenfield, Naomi Read, Andrew Bucknall, Simon Whitfield and James Fairclough took on the challenge to support him.
Combined with funds raised by five other staff members who took part in the Doncaster Half Marathon, Cemex employees have now raised over £8,000 for the charity in Matthew’s name.
Dave Duszczak, Jon Godley, Phil Hutchinson, James Playford and Thom Mason – all of whom work with Matthew on a daily basis – completed the run with times ranging from 1 hour 52 minutes to 2 hours and 13 minutes, and raised just over £3,000.
Matthew’s partner Nichola Cox, also a Cemex employee, said: “Both myself and Matt really appreciate the efforts of our colleagues at Cemex to raise such a considerable amount of money for the Stroke Association. It means a lot to us to know that he is still in everyone’s thoughts as he recovers.
“Matt is undergoing lots of therapy and it’s starting to pay off. It’s a long road ahead but he’s definitely up for the battle.”
Joanne Burr of the Stroke Association said: “We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone at Cemex for their incredible fund-raising efforts – and of course we wish Matthew all the best with his recovery.
“Every five minutes, stroke destroys lives and can strike anyone – young, old and anyone in between. The Stroke Association is here to support people to rebuild their lives after stroke. And this is only possible with the determination and generosity of our amazing supporters like everyone at Cemex.”
Visit www.stroke.org.uk/donate/make-donation to donate.
