Preston HomeServe staff make Great Escape to New Zealand for Target Ovarian Cancer

Adam Dickinson, Jannat Khan and Terence Greene from the HomeServe winning team, at their final destination in New Zealand

Employees at HomeServe, in Preston, competed with staff at other centres to take on The Great Escape challenge to travel as far as possible in a weekend without spending any money.

The teams raised more than £15,000 to help several charities across the UK including Acorn Children’s Hospice, Cancer Research UK and Royal British Legion.

The teams got as far as Cape Town, Los Angeles and New Zealand, travelling a collective distance of 34,706 miles in a single weekend.

The HomeServe Customer Relations team in Preston broke a previous mileage record during their adventure, with their charity hitchhike ending up in Christchurch New Zealand.

The team is now checking with the Guinness World Records to see if their epic voyage is a record breaker.

Read about other word-travelling fund-raisers here: WATCH: Thornton couple take on Rust 2 Rome rally for Matthew Hesmondhalgh Memorial Fund and Hero's welcome for duo on a Chicken from from Portugal to The Hoghton Arms in WithnellWinning team member Terence Greene said: “The Great Escape was a brilliant experience, it was so challenging.

“I am so pleased we got to far. I just emailed different companies about the challenges, saying we needed someone to sponsor us and pay for flights and accommodation. We managed to get a company to sponsor us, so all we had to pay for was food and drink.

“We got a lift to Manchester Airport and got a flight to Abu Dhabi. We had a four hour wait and then had a 15-hour flight to Sydney. We then flew to New Zealand which was a four-hour flight. We posed for photos and then had pizza. We hadn’t had any sleep and were so exhausted. We only got to spend 18 hours in Christchurch before heading home.

“Knowing that we were raising money for charity made it all worthwhile, especially as we lost one of our colleagues, earlier this year to ovarian cancer. We wanted to help raise awareness and help fund research for Target Ovarian Cancer.

“We’re also really competitive so wanted to beat our mileage from last year when I was one of a team which made it to Graceland with two other colleagues. This year I really wanted to break the world record, which we’re just awaiting official confirmation on.”

Meanwhile, two other colleagues completed a 60-hour challenge of reaching 25 football clubs, raising £1,900 in memory of a colleague who died on New Year’s Day from ovarian cancer.

They were helped on their trip by having a camper van donated by Preston Camper Vans in Much Hoole. Mark Conway of 21st Century Motors in Preston also helped with the fuel costs and accommodation.