On Saturday 12 May the formidable Winsford Warriors, who were representing Winsford Academy, were crowned most Active Workplace and Playfest 2018 champions at the Active Cheshire organised event, Playfest.
While raising money for one of Britain’s best-loved charities, the British Red Cross, the Winsford Warriors showed exceptional teamwork both before and during Playfest. The team, led by team captain Karen Black, proved themselves to be worthy competitors to the 500 employees taking part in the corporate competition, which included taking on the worlds longest inflatable obstacle course – at 1000ft long, the course was a challenging adversary to all the teams.
After taking home the Playfest trophy, team captain, Karen Black, had this to say about their win: “Every team member was so enthusiastic and we were all as active as possible every day; it really brought us together.
“We had such fun even before we started, the team spirit was amazing!
“We were all so excited and many of us were awake at the crack of dawn excitedly sending messages with the usual team spirit. Quite a few of us brought our families along, the children had a fabulous day.
“The atmosphere, team spirit and air of competitiveness fuelled our excitement and drove us through the challenging obstacle course. Waiting to hear the results there was a rollercoaster of emotions and when our name was called we were ecstatic!
“The event encapsulated our team spirit, resilience and enthusiasm whilst having fantastic fun. What a day! Winsford Warriors Playfest winners 2018.”
The Winsford school even brought on board their students to join in the Playfest spirit from helping the staff train to designing their t-shirts for the day. Karen Black continued, “We held a competition between the pupils at the Winsford Academy to design our t-shirt to wear on the day. The winning design was created by a wonderfully talented Year 7 pupil, Heidi Rowntree. The students were so excited and keen to be involved in our training.”
On the day, Active Cheshire encouraged almost 5000 people to get active and have fun as part of their inaugural fundraiser and family-fun day. Playfest saw thousands of people from across Cheshire and Warrington come together and take on exciting trials, including the worlds longest inflatable obstacle course.
After months of excitement, the Active Cheshire team were ecstatic to see so many people getting active and having fun. Anne Boyd, CEO of Active Cheshire, said, “a huge thank you to everyone who joined in Playfest 2018 on Saturday and helped raise funds for the British Red Cross. It was a wonderful day that really highlighted the importance of playing together in a fun and active way.
“A special thank you must go to our amazing staff and volunteers from Active Cheshire and the British Red Cross, without whom the day would not have been the success it was.
“We hope that Playfest is a reminder to us all that there are numerous ways to get active in work, at home, and in the community. Well done to everyone who took part.”
Active Cheshire’s mission is to embed physical activity into all aspects of everyday life for residents of Cheshire and Warrington, and to remind people that physical activity can be more than putting hours in at the gym or pounding the pavement in your trainers. Physical activity can be taking the family out on a fun day to Tatton Park (venue of Playfest 2018) or grabbing your colleagues and taking on the worlds longest inflatable obstacle course! All it takes is small steps to make a big impact on your health and wellbeing.
All of the day’s photos can be found here. Thank you to the official Playfest photographers Alex Thurston, Mark Ferris, Duncan Cowley and Paul Kyte.
For more information, please contact Active Cheshire on 01606 330 212 or email support@activecheshire.org.