In January 2007, mid-20s and with a Corporate Events job in London, I was craving an adventure. I cycled 5km each day to my office on my old bike, so why not cycle it 300km to Paris? On a whim I emailed a few friends to see if anyone was crazy enough to join me. It turned out 25 of them were.

Three months of planning later, I wobbled in the pouring rain towards the Eiffel Tower, part of a motley crew of amateur cyclists, with borrowed and second-hand bikes of all shapes and sizes. I was exhausted, aching and hungry, but I was buzzing.

The shared experience, the sense of achievement and the many pitfalls along the way had connected us as the very best of friends.

Annual cycling adventures around Europe became fixed in the calendar and were the highlight of my year. I realised how much joy I got from connecting people in the context of a shared physical challenge. I noted how life changing it was for so many people – myself included - and how it gave everyone that same buzz I’d felt in Paris. This is where the seed of Gladiator Events was planted.

I founded Gladiator Events in 2015, with a mission to create exciting challenges as a platform for charities to build unbreakable connections with their supporters and raise funds for their cause. Since starting the business, our small team has helped hundreds of charities across the UK raise millions of pounds and form lasting relationships with their supporters.

At the heart of this is creating an event with purpose: an event which reflects the charity’s personality, values or mission and which has a clear link to the charity’s work. Creating this link allows our charity partners to attract the right supporters, to build a really strong connection with them and ultimately to inspire them to raise as much as they can. All this is done through the power of that shared, meaningful experience.

In 2017 I became a mum and now I have two boys. As a parent I feel an even greater drive to use my business as a force for good and a responsibility to leave the world a better place for them. I am inspired by the B Corp movement, which is about balancing profit with purpose. I am very proud to say that we became B Corp certified in February 2022 after a rigorous two year assessment. The story of Gladiator Events has only just begun….

Sarah, Founder