May 2016

It’s not often you get a big charity event on your doorstep, so when it does happen we feel it’s best to get involved.

And we were delighted to be involved in the Bayley Mile in Wellington yesterday.
Not sure what it is? Let me tell you.

I’m Wayne Jenson, General Manager at Buckatree Hall Hotel, and I first heard about the Bayley Mile when I was looking into events that happen near our hotel. We like to be involved in a number of events nearby and help out whenever we can so this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

The Bayley Mile is a historic road race ran by local school children competing to win the fastest linear mile time.

This year it was the 20th anniversary of the event and we were so proud to be there watching these eager students – competitiveness was truly alive!

We pitched our gazebo in the car park by Wellington Civic and Leisure Centre and handed out squash, tea, coffee and biscuits to those who deserved it as well as family and friends who had come along to offer support.

And boy did they deserve it!

We had never been before so we were not sure what to expect but it was just a brilliant community event which celebrated everything about Wellington and the people in it. The children were great, I think many miles had been trodden in preparation and practice for the event and many trainers worn out.

Medals were presented by Paralympian Mickey Bushell MBE, who lives just down the road in Arleston!

It made us very proud to be based in Wellington and very proud to call this our local community. People were certainly thirsty after all this hard work so we were pleased to be able to provide the squash and biscuits to refresh them a little. It was a warm afternoon but thankfully not too sunny and no rain.

There was an open race at the end of the day too, for anyone who wanted to show the kids how it’s done – if only I hadn’t been wearing a suit or due back at the hotel, I definitely would have been able to show them a thing or two!