Member Article

RDA trio conquer Total Warrior charity challenge

Three colleagues from a leading catering design and installation company have emerged victorious from a gruelling physical challenge in support of a local charity.

A sporty team from Restaurant Design Associates (RDA) in South Tyneside – quantity surveyor Stephen Rochester, commercial manager Alex Bradley and operations manager Neil Addyman – faced this year’s Total Warrior event in the Lake District and raised a grand total of £1,130 for the Sunshine Fund.

Stephen, Alex and Neil travelled to Shap Abbey near Penrith to take on the 10k assault course in aid of the charity, which provides specially adapted equipment, custom built apparatus and special learning aids for North East children with disabilities or special needs, to improve the quality of their lives.

This event marked the fifth year of Total Warrior, which sold out months in advance and saw thousands of would-be warriors coming from all over the world to compete. It is described as being the ultimate test of strength, stamina, mental determination and teamwork - and ex-military personnel helped design the course with 25-30 obstacles to make it as tough as possible, using the Lake District’s hills, rivers, mud, woodland and rugged terrain.

Stephen said: “Total Warrior was a great experience which definitely lived up to its reputation of being the pinnacle of obstacle racing, and we were suitably bruised and battered by it. In fact, Neil badly injured his ankle and had to be carried off on a stretcher by St John’s Ambulance – though he kept smiling! The 10k run up and down hills was challenge enough, but the water, fire and mud that we encountered along the way made it all the more tricky.

“Despite the pain, it was a brilliant atmosphere and we were glad to have the support of the RDA team on the day. We completed the course in 1hour and 45 minutes and we’d like to try to beat that time next year.

“We were very proud to raise £1,130 for the Sunshine Fund - it’s a fantastic local charity and we’ve long admired the services that they carry out for children across the North East. We’d like to thank everyone who sponsored us as your support really spurred us on!”

Clare Savory, events manager for the Sunshine Fund, said: “A huge thank you to RDA for taking on Total Warrior and raising such a fantastic amount of money for the charity. They’ve worked incredibly hard and their efforts will go a very long way towards helping disabled children in the North East.”

RDA’s next charity event will be on Friday 25 September, when the team will be taking part in the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. Visit RDA’s office at 5 Apollo Court, Monkton Business Park, Hebburn, from 10am, to buy tea, coffee and cakes.

RDA specialises in design and installation projects for the catering, hospitality and retail industries. The firm, which was established in 2007, has worked with a diverse range of clients across the UK and abroad, including blue chip companies, universities, contract caterers and conference centres.

The company is now recruiting for a senior designer to join the growing team. For further information about the role, visit RDA’s Linkedin page or call 0844 873 4993.

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This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Restaurant Design Associates .