Martin Clunes, Patron of ACE, with Paul Dewey, who is the partner of Rossdales radiographer of Josie Meehan and who was the inspiration for the Rossdales Charity Bike Ride, and Lorraine King of Addenbrookes E10 Haematology Day Unit. The £20,000 raised will be split between the two charities.

Animal Care in Egypt (ACE) patron Martin Clunes visits Rossdales as charity bike ride raises £20k

The Rossdales charity bike ride which took place on 26th June has now raised a magnificent £20,000 for two charities, Addenbrookes Hospital Oncology Centre and Animal Care in Egypt (ACE).

On Wednesday, 5th October, popular TV actor and personality Martin Clunes, who is the Patron of ACE, together with Sue Akehurst of ACE, and Lorraine King, a Senior Sister at Addenbrookes, visited Rossdales Equine Hospital and Diagnostic Centre in Exning to receive cheques on behalf of their respective charities from members of the Rossdales charity bike ride team.

During the bike ride, 71 cyclists, comprising Rossdales staff, friends, family and clients rode either a 100 mile or 25 mile route. Each mile cycled contributed to the team's original collective goal of 2,500 miles, the distance from Rossdales Equine Hospital and Diagnostic Centre in Exning near Newmarket to ACE's clinic in Luxor, Egypt. In the event, they cycled a collective total distance of 4,100 miles – the distance to ACE’s clinic and two thirds of the way back!

The inspiration for the bike ride was Paul Dewey, who is the partner of Rossdales’ radiographer Josie Meehan. Paul was treated successfully for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma at Addenbrookes last year and he was amongst the cyclists who completed the 100 mile route.

Rossdales vet Lorna Brokenshire-Dyke, chair of the Bike Ride Committee, said after the event: "Our choice of charities was easy; we wanted to show gratitude to the team who helped Paul through his long treatment and we also wanted to support ACE, a charity with which we already have strong links, and which has had a particularly difficult year with the recent political turmoil in Egypt. Originally we had only a handful of people planning to cycle but with the generous spirit of our colleagues, friends and families at Rossdales, the event soon grew, along with the fundraising.”

Martin Clunes and Sue Akehurst (right) receive the cheque for £10,000 for ACE from Rossdales Annalisa Barrelet and Paul Dewey

Following a tour of the equine hospital and diagnostic centre, Martin, who owns 14 horses, is currently President of the British Horse Society and recently presented the ITV series ‘Horsepower’, said: “ACE is a small charity of which I am Patron and it does a fantastic job in providing veterinary treatment and care for the working horses and donkeys in Luxor, which really have a terrible time. ACE's education programme is superb, teaching children and the animals’ owners that they should respect and care for their animals. It’s tremendous that the Rossdales team has raised so much money – it will make a huge difference to ACE – thank you so much.”

Sue Akehurst of ACE supported Martin’s sentiments, saying: “We are delighted to be receiving this cheque from the Rossdales Bike Ride team. ACE is totally reliant on generous donations and this will make a great difference to what we can do and how many animals we can reach, as well as providing much needed resources to further our education programme, which is so important for current and future generations”.

Lorraine King, a Senior Sister at Addenbrookes E10 Haematology Day Unit, said: “I am totally blown away by this cheque. It far surpasses what we had hoped the Rossdales team would achieve. Our aim is to give people suffering from cancer a better chance of leading a normal life. Donations like this are very important – we currently need extra funds to extend the Day Unit to allow us treat more patients. This will also help us to buy a few luxuries for day patients, such as TVs and DVD players. Thank you so much to everyone who took part, and all those who gave their support.”

The team members cycled across Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk on what turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year. The Fenland Villages 25 mile route explored much of the new Lodes Way and visited Burwell, Lode, Bottisham, The Swaffhams and Reach. The Coast, Forest and Fen route took the team a gruelling 100 miles along the North Norfolk Coast from Sheringham, to Hunstanton and back down through the Norfolk countryside before finishing at the hospital in Exning. The emergency on-call team of vets, nurses and students helped build up 100 miles for the team by cycling in relay on static bikes based at the equine hospital.

Martin Clunes with a pony patient at Rossdales Equine Hospital, Fred Barrelet and yard staff member Lynn Beach

Rossdales partner Fred Barrelet said: "We were delighted to welcome Martin, Sue and Lorraine to Rossdales today to receive the cheques. This is an excellent achievement by everyone involved from our practice and the funds raised will provide a great boost to the excellent work of the two charities. Thank you to everyone who has helped us to raise this magnificent amount of money - all cyclists, supporters, organisers, everyone who has sponsored us or made a donation, bought raffle tickets or contributed prizes to the raffle and auction, and of course to the members of the Bike Ride Committee."