Introducing Jack Wyse, an inspirational BuddyBooster from the John Lewis Partnership
Whilst working in Hong Kong, ensuring that John Lewis’ suppliers were meeting their sustainability commitments, Jack and about 10 others would meet up for a few drinks on a Friday night and then spend the rest of the weekend running and hiking out on the island’s spectacular trails. They were having fun, getting fitter, revelling in nature and making friends for life.
Jack returned to the UK in 2021 and, having recognised that being active was a huge part of his overall wellbeing, committed to running at least 5km a day for a whole year. This commitment deepened when one the Hong Kong group suddenly died of lymphoma. Now his daily run is an opportunity for Jack to spend a bit of time focussing not just on himself, but also on a great friendship. Later this year, he plans to incorporate fundraising for Lymphoma Action into his challenge.
The last 20 of those days have coincided with the John Lewis BuddyBoost challenge, where nearly a thousand Partners have buddied up and are supporting each other to complete 26 minutes of exercise a day for 26 days in July. Jack started posting pictures of his daily runs in the app’s Community Feed, so I (Robert Tansey, founder of BuddyBoost), asked if I could join him one day. The plan was for it to be run #200, so you can blame the heatwave for the fact that it ended up being #202!
And what an inspirational start to the day it was. Despite the tragic events that underpin Jack’s challenge, it’s obvious that he takes great joy in going out each day and remembering a wonderful friend.
Jack has also found that he now has a much more balanced perspective on life, “A tough meeting at work is just that, a tough meeting. I just don’t get as worked up about those sorts of things as I used to. And the good thing about meetings is that there’s always a next time to put things right.”
Over the course of the month, Jack has become a great advocate for BuddyBoost inside the John Lewis Partnership, in part, because it mirrors the sense of community, support and encouragement that he experienced with his group of trail runners back in Hong Kong. “I just love the fact that it’s not competitive and that anyone can join in. It’s lovely seeing what everyone’s been up to in the Community Feed, as it shows an extra aspect of your colleagues’ lives – just a fantastic way of bringing people together really.”
I normally try to avoid early morning runs, but if they were always uplifting as today’s, I think I’d go a lot more. Just maybe not every day for the next 163 days!
Thank you Jack, and good luck.
If you would like more information on or to donate to Lymphoma Action please click here.
Comentarios