The firm has raised £1,000 by completing the challenge at its head office in Maidstone last week.
As part of the PassIT! fundraising campaign, two treadmills were set up in the reception area and 44 members of staff ran, walked and danced 84 miles between them. In the week leading up to the fundraising event, all staff were able to bid for their fellow colleagues to run up to three miles on the treadmill.
These funds will go directly into the PrintIT! programme, which helps to facilitate the development of new student workbooks, pay for school visits to the printing industry and fund new career development materials for both the students and teachers.
Balreed group managing director and founder Robin Stanton-Gleaves said: “We have recently been appointed as official Print Partner to the Virgin Money London Marathon so we thought a running challenge was an appropriate way for us to raise both funds and the heart rates of staff.
“The PrintIT! programme is a fantastic initiative and we are looking forward to presenting the money to them. It was great to see so many people involved in the ‘Balreed Pace or Pay Challenge’ and we have raised a fantastic amount.”
Proskills managing director Jonathan Ledger added: “We are absolutely delighted the Balreed team have raised such a considerable sum for the PrintIT! programme. The money they raised will help the Proskills charity further develop the programme and have a direct impact on getting more young people into print careers and apprenticeships.
“Their tireless efforts have demonstrated a strong commitment to ensuring longevity and growth for the printing industry, as well as helping to bridge the skills gap in the UK. They should be very proud of their excellent effort."
Last week Balreed also opened its doors to the students of Cornwallis Academy who had a demonstration of the latest digital technology and were given a talk on what the roles and opportunities there are in managed print services.
Balreed is the latest of 10 companies to complete its fundraising challenge as part of the 10-month-long fundraising initiative PassIT!
In partnership with the Duplo London Calling partners, each of the 10 participating companies will take a month each to raise money for PrintIT!, the UK’s largest 'schools into industry' programme for the printing, paper and packaging industries.
The other partnering companies involved in the initiative are Antalis, Optimus, Taopix, Vpress, LumeJet, Renz, Neopost, Vivid and Duplo.
With a focus on designing a print product for Fairtrade, schools participating in the PrintIT! initiative are provided with free lesson plans, resources, and workbooks. Over 140,000 students from around 2,000 schools have taken part in the programme to date.
To donate to PrintIT!, visit www.givey.com/printit2014 or contact 01235 833844.
