More than 50 members of staff from HSBC banks and call centres from across South Wales went head-to-head in Cardiff in an Apprentice themed challenge for The Joshua Foundation.

As part of the day-long event, the ten teams, 3 of which were from Cardiff, hunted around the city in an attempt to complete the challenges and obtain the random objects that the charity had set for them.

Pick up the Pace, a group of HSBC employees from Cardiff were crowned as overall winners on the day after wowing judges with their ingenuity and have-a-go attitude.

Setting off from the charity’s flagship coffee shop Comfortably Numb on Castle Street, the teams raced around the capital in a bid to outwit and out-do their opposition teams.

Having already raised in excess of £500 for the children’s charity from registration alone, the 50 workers have their eyes set on much bigger figures, with the goal of raising around £10,000 for the charity, once HSBC has match funded their gallant efforts.

And, with the end-goal of raising enough money to help the charity purchase a caravan in Tenby for the use of families who have children with cancer, the HSBC workers were desperate to be Hired and not Fired by the end of the day. In addition to the money raised by the challengers, the teams also managed to persuade businesses from across Cardiff to donate a range of raffle prizes for the charity including a £150 voucher for the Optic Shop, a meal at the Hilton Restaurant, DVD players, cameras and bottles of champagne.

Ruth Parkin, HSBC staff member and co-organiser of the challenge said that the decision to support The Joshua Foundation was a very easy one to make:

"The Joshua Foundation works so hard to help families who have children with cancer to have some quality and fun time together without any worries of how much things cost or how they are going to arrange things."

Founder of The Joshua Foundation, Sarah Cornelius said: "The ten teams from HSBC all had a really good time taking part in our challenge even though at times their tasks seemed a little bit crazy."

"At The Joshua Foundation we are extremely grateful to all of our fundraisers, as without them we would not be able to carry on doing what we do. We are very grateful for all of the help, support and enthusiasm shown by everyone who was involved with the HSBC Challenge."

"With the addition of an extra caravan in West Wales, we will be able to help many more families to have a much deserved break away together."