Staff at a city hotel have been challenged to “travel” the equivalent distance of Scotland’s intricate coastline over the months of October and November to raise vital funds and awareness of a deadly cancer.
Surgeons Quarter, which owns and operates Ten Hill Place Hotel, has extended its charitable partnership with Bowel Cancer UK after raising £20,000 so far for the charity’s “Improving Surgery, Saving Lives” campaign.
To celebrate, the “Surgeons Quarter Cares Coastal Challenge” will see Surgeons Quarter’s team of 60 staff walk, run, row or cycle their way around the Scottish coastline over 61 days.
The smaller team, impacted by the devastation to the hospitality sector resulting in 33 forced redundancies, will be utilising the hotel’s recently opened gym, “The Garage Gym”, to help them on their journeys, boosting their health and team-spirit following a difficult year to date. The Coastal challenge is designed to improve employee wellbeing while heightening awareness of health
conditions not related to COVID-19.
Bowel cancer is the third most common cancer in Scotland, and kills around 1,600 people a year in the country alone.
Scott Mitchell, Managing Director at Surgeons Quarter, said: “We hope that in raising awareness of the disease we can encourage more people to talk openly about bowel cancer.
“Our partnership with Bowel Cancer UK is one that we are proud of, because both organisations share common values and understand the importance of investing in surgical progression.
“The Coastal Challenge event fits with our Surgeons Quarter Cares ethos – while it’s been an extremely difficult time for all of us, we’re focusing on the positives of what we can do in looking after our staff, our charitable partners, the environment, guests and our business.
“All charities have felt the brunt of COVID and not being able to carry out their usual fundraising opportunities, which is why we’re also looking for corporate backers to help us raise as much as we can for Bowel Cancer UK.”
One in 16 men and one in 21 women in Scotland will be diagnosed with bowel cancer during their lifetime, but the disease is treatable and curable especially if caught early.
Most people survive bowel cancer if diagnosed at the earliest stage, however this drops significantly as the disease develops.
In 2019, Ten Hill Place made alterations to all disabled toilets in its 129-bedroom building to make its services easier to use for guests who have a stoma.
The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) and Bowel Cancer UK are raising £430,000 to create Scotland’s first Colorectal Cancer Surgical Research Chair – a position which will be filled by a surgeon who will work to save lives and reduce long-term side effects for patients post-surgery.
Mike Locke, Fundraising Manager for Scotland at Bowel Cancer UK, said: “We are so thrilled to have Surgeon’s Quarter fundraise for our ambitious Improving Surgery, Saving Lives campaign. We wish the team all the best for their gruelling coastal challenge. With companies like Surgeon’s Quarter and RCSEd leading the way, together we can help stop people dying from this dreadful disease in Scotland.”
Ten Hill Place remained open from March to May in order to provide 2,137 free nights of accommodation and thousands of meals to frontline medical workers during the Coronavirus pandemic.
Surgeons Quarter promotes, sells and manages all commercial activities held within the RCSEd campus. All profits support the charitable aims of The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh which are education, assessment and advancement in
surgery.
The public are being encouraged to follow the fundraising progress and donate via
