GRUELLING lifts, skips, jumps and a haul of a 4.5 tonne bus along the seafront are all part of an effort to raise money. 

Dorset-based property developer AJC Group has kick-started its training for an ultimate HealthBus Challenge in April to raise £10,000 for the HealthBus Trust.  

The 35-strong dedicated team at the firm are gearing up for a week’s worth of relentless physical challenges starting on April 15.  

Together the team will lift the equivalent of 500 Healthbuses weighing, skip the entire population of Bournemouth at 196,000 and jump a total of 5,000 Healthbuses at a height of 273 cm each. 

The grand finale will take place on Friday, April 19 where the team will heave a 4.5 tonne HealthBus along the promenade for a back-breaking 5km, starting in Sandbanks and finishing in Bournemouth.  

The money raised will support the Healthbus Trust, which provides essential healthcare and wellbeing to people experiencing homelessness in Bournemouth and the surrounding areas. 

AJC Group director David Cracklen said: “We’ve started training and already we know this will be our most physically challenging fundraiser to date. We are determined to succeed, even if we can’t walk for days after. 

“Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole district has the highest number of rough sleepers outside of London, so the work that the HealthBus Trust and its homeless charity partners provide are needed more than ever.  

“We want to raise as much money as possible and hope there will be lots of people to cheer us on and donate on our final day.” 

Deano Pickering, executive director at HealthBus Trust, added: “This is by far the craziest and most punishing challenge anyone has undertaken to raise money for us.  

“We are so grateful to AJC Group. Collaborations like this are instrumental in sustaining our life-saving initiatives and specialised care for individuals facing homelessness in our town.” 

The HealthBus Trust operates a mobile clinic from specialist vehicles, including a converted ambulance which has all the facilities of a medical practitioner’s office.

Three to four days per week, the HealthBus team provides a safe and non-judgmental GP-led service to vulnerable adults, working in close relationship with Homelessness Partnerships run by BCP Council.