News: Peoplesafe at the Sheffield Half Marathon

Fund-raising staff at Peoplesafe in Rotherham will put their company's products, as well as their bodies, to the test, when they run the Sheffield Half Marathon in May.

The runners will carry a range of devices that, via GPS technology, will allow their colleagues back in the monitoring centre at Dinnington, to keep a check on their progress during the marathon on May 8.

It is hoped the nine team members' efforts will raise a total of £2,000 for charities Macmillan Cancer Support and MERU, which helps children and young people with disabilities. The company itself is making a donation to the Suzy Lamplugh Trust which raises awareness of personal safety.

The 13.1 mile challenge was started by Peoplesafe's managing director Ian Johannessen and Gavin Rigg, client implementation manager, who are competitive runners.

Other staff - Lucy Tointon, Alicia Mather, Chris Chambers, Thomas Atherton, Paul Henderson and David Atkins – then signed up to improve their fitness and support the fund-raiser.

Peoplesafe is one of the UK's leading providers of simple and lightweight equipment and 24-hour monitoring to protect a variety of staff who work in isolation or more risky environments. These range from housing officers to engineers and construction workers.

Ian Johannessen said: "The Peoplesafe team will be lining up with the thousands of other runners for what promises to be a fantastic event and I hope we can do really well for our chosen charities.

"All the talk in the office lately has been of training. A group of women from the office, who didn't feel they could take on a run this length, have been inspired to sign up for the Race for Life in June instead. The enthusiasm is great to see."

Peoplesafe website

Images: Peoplesafe