For those who don’t know, Manchester 3000 is our annual super-event which involves pushing your physical and mental boundaries to the limit, all in the name of charity.
We’re a big fan of endurance events here at FJR which stems from our fitness fanatic owner, John Dyson who likes to champion a healthy lifestyle to say the least. From gruelling marathons to bootcamp with The Gym Group, we’ve been holding Manchester 3000 as our flagship endurance event – and one truly unique to Manchester.
Sweat, endurance and most importantly the support of hundreds of local businesses.
The idea is simple; we scale Manchester’s skyline by climbing the stairs (up and down) of its tallest and most iconic buildings all in the name of charity.
The climb is roughly 3000 ft. with a 5 mile run in between buildings.
The prospect seemed ridiculous at first, but it was endurance we were looking for, and it felt fitting to aim high when at ground level the homeless situation in Manchester was spiralling out of control.
After the hard work is done, all groups will finish up at a local venue where everyone can enjoy a drink together with a few nibbles to celebrate the achievement.
In the early years we had a small group of solo entrants, but we now encourage businesses to each field a team of participants with a view of increasing participation, but crucially raising as much money and awareness as possible. This makes for an awesome team building day and is a great way to get businesses involved in more CSR activities.
To make the event more inclusive of all fitness levels, we have introduced 3 levels of achievement (Bronze, Silver, Gold) based on how many stamps you collect along the way (stamps are given out at the top of each building). This will give more people the opportunity to take part and join in the fun without having to compete with those striving to reach the top of every single building.
With our head office located in Manchester City Centre, we see the effects of homelessness on a daily basis, so for the last couple of years our chosen charity has been Big Change Manchester. Big Change delivers money directly to those who need it most through a raft of charities and volunteer groups who devote their time to helping others. To date, they’ve raised over £227k and helped 1500+ homeless people get back on their feet.
Big Change works because it allows collective ownership of the colossal problem our city faces. To make lasting change it’s imperative that more people get involved.
Manchester 3000 aims to engage the local business community to take up the mantle and get involved to do our part in solving what is a one of the biggest issues our city faces.
Rough sleeping and homelessness affects real people and can destroy lives. It’s high time that we stop walking by and start climbing up (and down) to do what we can to help.
We’re extremely grateful to everyone who takes part and raises money for Big Change Manchester. Last year we raised £3000+ for our chosen charity and hope this year will be even bigger!