Travelodge staff take on row to raise lifesaving funds in memory of loved ones

Four Travelodge hotel managers have completed a gruelling two-day row on the River Thames to raise money for and awareness for our lifesaving research.

Men rowing on the River Thames at sunset

Travelodge is a charity partner of the BHF and throughout the partnership, have raised over £1 million for the BHF’s lifesaving research into heart and circulatory diseases since 2017.

To mark this year’s Heart Month in February, the novice rowers took to the chilly Thames on 25 February, and covered a total of 60,000m all in the name of raising funds for the BHF and raising awareness of heart conditions.

The team

The team, who only picked up oars for the first time in November, chose to cover 30,000m each day to reflect the 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests suffered in the UK each year.

They hope that their row will raise awareness of heart health and how important it is for the public to learn the lifesaving skill of CPR. They have raised £8,000.

Luke Jones, Ryan Alcock, Paul Madden and Alan Harfield who all work for Travelodge in London, have each suffered their own heartache at the expense of such diseases.

Four men with rowing boat and BHF tops

A tough challenge

About their row, Ryan said: “To think that just seven weeks ago, none of us had ever been in a rowing boat before, to having covered 60k of the River Thames just feels unbelievable! It was a really, really tough challenge but each of us had our own reasons to hold onto when things got difficult.

“We know that the money raised by this challenge is going to help people like the family members we’ve all lost. Raising awareness of these cruel conditions and highlighting the work of the BHF is what this was all about. We hope we’ve all done our families proud.”

Pushing off from Putney Embankment on 24 February and ending at Putney embankment on 25 February, the men rowed seven hours a day to cover the distance. They were trained by TopRow, a rowing club in Putney.

Luke Jones, Regional Director for Travelodge says, " We are really proud of what we have achieved and we are delighted to have raised a significant amount for such a great cause.

"We are really grateful to TopRow for providing all the support to the team in training. It's great to see our partnership with the British Heart Foundation carrying on, helping to raise awareness and donations that we know helps make a difference to people's lives."

Five men in front of a boat, four of them wearing red BHF tops

Raising awareness

Sian Dickson, our Corporate Partnerships Manager, said: “Our partnership with Travelodge has already raised such a significant amount since launching in 2017. We’re so grateful to Luke, Ryan, Paul and Alan for helping us raise even more funds for our lifesaving research.

“In addition to fundraising, the partnerships has trained 4,200 people in CPR through our online CPR training tool, RevivR.

"The chance of someone surviving a cardiac arrest is so slim, but their chances double with timely CPR and defibrillation. This row has raised awareness of just how many people in the UK each year will need CPR to survive and we’re so grateful to the team for doing so.”