Eight runners ... ten kilometres .... 21 cyclists ... 656 miles ... 20 premiership football clubs ... 18 punctures ... one police warning ... one 700ft zip slide ... and around £22,450 raised for charity!

Industry-leading system supplier VEKA plc is renowned for its charity endeavours and this year's efforts so far have been a varied and incredibly successful bunch!
It all started with a 'wear it blue' day in aid of Pendleside Hospice and since then the staff at VEKA have undertaken a diverse range of activities.

Gemma Begbie of VEKA's HR department ran the Burnley 'Race for Life' as she does every year, while eight determined VEKA staff tackled the Great Manchester 10k run to raise £2000 for Pendleside Hospice.

Meanwhile, VEKA's Rebecca Mayhew and Karen Galawan were busy climbing Ramsbottom's Peel Tower in order to do a 700ft zip slide off the edge; the pair's bravery brought in sponsorship of over £450 for the Anthony Nolan Trust.

Pete Chapman, Senior Product Support Technician at VEKA, had a slightly more gruelling task as one of 21 riders who opted to cycle 656 miles around the UK's premiership football clubs to drum up support for Leukaemia Research.

Pete said: “The ride was incredibly hard work: we had 18 punctures, two snapped spokes, a broken bottom bracket and a jammed gear cable, but this year the weather was a lot kinder. Also, quite ironically, we made it right round the country only to be stopped by the police for running a red light in Burnley! Despite all this - we couldn't be happier to have undertaken this challenge in order to help such a worthy cause. We are hoping to have raised £20,000 between us and the thought of the difference that money could make really kept us going.”

Our pictures shows: Andrea Beckett, Amy Steven, Gabriela Hammond, Stefan Sorah, Adrian Lord, Peter Eatough, Austin Greene, Gavin Bevan in Manchester