Rossdales Bike Ride raises more than £16k for charity
The team who cycled "to Egypt" on Sunday 26th June have smashed their original target of £5,000 and have now raised more than £16,000 for the ride’s two charities: Animal Care in Egypt (ACE) and Addenbrooke’s Hospital Cancer Ward E10.
Seventy one cyclists, comprising Rossdales staff, friends and family, also cycled even further than planned: a collective distance of 4,100 miles, the distance from Rossdales Equine Hospital in Exning to ACE’s clinic in Luxor, Egypt – and two thirds of the way back! The team cycled across Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk, having chosen either a 25 or 100 mile route, 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 miles for the team by cycling in relay on static bikes based at the hospital. This ensured that there was full cover at all times for in-patients and emergency admissions. Despite a busy weekend of referrals, the team managed to cycle a collective distance of 100 miles during quieter moments.
Lorna Brokenshire-Dyke, one of the committee who organised the event said: "This is a fabulous achievement for our practice and will be an immense boost to the excellent work of our two charities. The idea snowballed following our 60 mile London to Brighton Bike Ride last year, where we had a team of 10 riders from the practice. Paul Dewey, the partner of our radiographer Josie Meehan, was in the original team line-up but was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and was unable to continue his training. We all promised each other that we would do something again the following year and were thrilled when he successfully fought the disease and was given the all-clear to get back on his bike again."
"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 turmoil Egypt has experienced. 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!"
The partners would like to thank everyone who contributed to the success of the day, a very large group of people indeed: thank you to all cyclists, supporters, organisers, everyone who has sponsored us or made a donation, bought raffle tickets or contributed prizes to the raffle and auction. Thank you to the Bike Ride Committee: Annalisa Barrelet, Lorna Brokenshire-Dyke, Deidre Carson, Cathy Close, Carolin Gerdes, Kate Hall, Nick Kelly, Josie Meehan, Ollie Pynn, Matthias Rettig, Pat Sells and Neil Steven. A special thank you to the family members and friends of Rossdales who helped with the planning of the ride and on the day itself: James Dyke, Paul and Tony Dewey, Adam Meehan, Imelda Ahmadi, Martin O’Reilly, Anthony Goodwin, Lucy Goodwin-Grieves, David "Mouse" Cooper, Kate Hesse, Kimberley Harrison, Karl Jones, Julian Webb, Sean Rooney, Eddie Murrell, James Canham, Gary and his disco, Sue Winter and her donkeys. Thank you also to the following organisations for their valuable support of the ride: Juddmonte Farms, Beovax Computer Services, Dechra, Pfizer, Revel Outdoors, Tecvac, Intervet Schering Plough, Eurovet, Dunlops, Merial, Boehringer, Virbac, Centaur and On Track Physiotherapy. The ride was run as part of Team Green Britain Bike Week, a national celebration of cycling.
Rossdales veterinary surgeon Pat Sells, who was a member of the Bike Ride committee and himself cycled 100 miles, has very cleverly put together an excellent short film charting the day's events. More pictures will appear on this page in the photo gallery shortly, and a full photo album has been uploaded to our Facebook page.
There is still time to donate if you would like to make a contribution. Fundraising is being directed through JustGiving, or individual donations can be sent directly to the practice marked ‘Rossdales Charity Bike Ride’.
