Marathon effort by staff

Apr 25 2008 by Jo Henwood, Chester Chronicle

CARDEN Park hotel staff clocked up the miles for charity.

Six members of the De Vere hotel team ran the London Marathon on Sunday to raise funds for the Hospice of the Good Shepherd in Backford.

Resort and spa sales manager Emma Edwards, trainee Mahendra Gawane, bar manager Stephen Bratt, concierge John Creasey, deputy general manager Paul Bayliss and bar assistant Marek Kowalski were all supported by Steve Morgan, a major shareholder in the De Vere chain of hotels, in raising £1,400 each for the charity.

Paul said: “The hotel group has a well-being initiative which encourages staff to live a healthy life. We decided to pick the hardest challenge – the marathon – and it was hard work but we all did it. It was torture!”

Hospice events fundraiser Jemma Hamilton, said: “The staff from Carden Park have done fantastically well with their training and fundraising and we were proud to have them representing the hospice.”

Stephen was the first of the team to finish, in just less than four hours.

On his return from London, Marek had to make a dash to his home country of Poland, where his wife is about to give birth to their first child.