Derby Company are all Heart in Colleagues Memory

A team of thirty eight friends, family members and colleagues of a Derby man who died of a heart attack in February are taking on a challenge in his memory.

Twenty-nine employees from GF Tomlinson, in Alfreton Road, are embarking on the British Heart Foundation’s (BHF) High Peak Trail Winter Challenge Walk on Sunday 20 November in memory of Mark Holmes.

Mark, who had worked at GF Tomlinson for 11 years as a site manager, was out for an evening run on February 14 when he suffered a massive heart attack and died, aged 53.

His wife, Melanie, discovered the news when she was forced to ring the hospital after he didn’t return to their Melbourne home. It was a devastating shock for Melanie and their children Jake (21) and Louie (17).

Mark’s colleagues also struggled to come to terms with the news and decided it would be fitting to do something in his memory. So 22 workers, aged between 19 and 60, and friends of Mark, will join Jake – who also works at GF Tomlinson, and Louie for the 17 mile winter trek.

The ‘Tomlinson Trekkers’ hope to raise £3,000 for the vital work of the BHF. Team leader, Sarah Brammer, a marketing coordinator at GF Tomlinson, said: “Mark was such a nice man and was really popular at work. He was a happy go lucky guy and always had a smile on his face. It was a real big shock for everyone when we came in to work to find out the tragic news. We felt that taking on this challenge was a perfect way for us all to remember Mark in our own way.”

BHF Regional Events Organiser Helen Whiteley added: “I would like to thank everyone at GF Tomlinson for uniting and taking on this event in such sad circumstances. Sadly heart disease remains the UK’s biggest killer and it doesn’t care who it affects. We need to do all we can to continue the fight against it and we can’t do it without your support.”

To sponsor the Tomlinson Trekkers, visit www.virginmoneygiving.com/tomlinsons

To sign up, entry is £10 for adults. Register online at bhf.org.uk/highpeak, call free phone 0800 169 3672 or email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for entry forms.