Chief executive of Brentwood BC and Rochford DC, Jonathan Stephenson, devised the plan to create the Public Sector Challenge after leading his own teams on a similar – if somewhat smaller – challenge in 2022. In 2022, 30 employees from the council raised more than £12,000 for local charities when they took on the Three Peaks Yorkshire challenge – a 26 mile walk and climb over 12 hours.

In June 2023, Public Sector Teams, working with Private sector partners, undertook the National 3 Peaks Challenge as part of the first ever national Public Sector Challenge. The challenge was such a success that we want to challenge more people every year to get involved, in whatever way they can, to raise as much money as we can for Cancer Research UK.