Staff from insurance firm Admiral have raised more than £32,000 for the Intensive Care Society by taking part in a stay at home half marathon challenge.

The employees, which included some of the around 1,000 employed at Admiral House in Newport city centre, were from Admiral’s Active Community, an employee group set up to encourage staff to live a healthy lifestyle. The group organised the fundraising event and invited as many staff as possible to take part.

A total of 330 staff members and their families from across South Wales took part along with colleagues from the firm's office in Italy.

The Admiral Stay at Home Half Marathon asked participants and their families to walk or run 13.1 miles over the last bank holiday weekend, while following social distancing rules.

Some participants ran, some walked, some did both and some even rode bikes or covered the miles on rowing machines. In total, participants travelled 4,507km and took 45 million steps over the three-day event. That’s the same distance between Cardiff and the North Pole.

So far, the participants have raised more than £16,000, beating the original target of £500. Admiral’s £4 million Support Fund for Covid-19, will also be matching the amount raised taking the total to more than £32,000.

Everyone taking part donated £5 and many participants also received further sponsorship for taking part.

The funds will support The Intensive Care Society, which represents our intensive care team heroes who are critical in the fight against Covid-19. This cause is very close to many hearts during the coronavirus crisis and Admiral staff were keen to help.

Matt Wintle, Admiral head of change and the organiser of the fundraising event, said: “Admiral identifies the need to support local charities and actively encourages its staff to get involved. I was passionate to take up an opportunity to support such a vital cause. My amazing sister is an intensive care unit nurse and I wanted to do something to support her and many other health heroes working on the frontline. It has been a hugely rewarding experience to fundraise for The Intensive Care Society and the generosity of staff has been overwhelming.”