On Sunday 11th May almost 300 fundraisers met in Stokesley and got on their bikes to raise money for a local charity. The annual charity bike ride which sees the riders travel 30 miles in and around Stokesley has been raising money for charities for 17 years. This year’s nominated charity was Herriot Hospice Homecare which covers Hambleton and Richmondshire in North Yorkshire and provides care to terminally ill patients.
The charity event has helped several local charities over its 17 year lifetime, all of which have received money to make a difference to the local community. Event organiser Paul Mackintosh has worked extremely hard since the first race to encourage riders to take part but his biggest challenge this year was to find a new sponsor to ensure the bike ride could go ahead. Packaging companies RPS Ltd and East Riding Sacks sponsored the ride ensuring another local charity could benefit from the fundraising efforts of the riders.
The 293 riders included many new and long standing participants, one of whom has ridden every bike ride since the event began in 1998. There were 2 tandem bikes and an old delivery bike with a wicker basket that Granville from Open All Hours would have been proud of. Most riders were cursing the climb of Clay Bank but the rider of the ‘basket’ bicycle was more worried coming down Clay Bank because of the old fashioned style brakes. He commented that he would “crash into the ride of the road” if the brakes failed!
Thomas Hudson, marketing manager at RPS said: “It was great to see the riders on the morning, geared up ready to take on the 30 mile challenge. Congratulations to all of those who took part and for the amazing amount of money already raised. Also, I would like to extend a big thank you to Paul Mack who has put together a fantastic event year on year and continues to help raise money for worthy local causes”.
L to R: Paul Mackintosh, event organiser, Thomas Hudson & Gary Hudson, RPS & Victoria Hodgson, Herriot Hospice HomecareIt was a great event which ran very smoothly with just short of £2000 raised on the day. Paul is confident there could be between £5,000 – 7,000 raised by the time all the donations have been collected. The final total achieved will be announced at a presentation which will be held in September at the Dog & Gun, Potto.
If you would like to send a donation yourself a cheque can be posted to Paul Mackintosh made payable to the charity Herriot Hospice Homecare. For details please click here to visit the event website or email tom@rpsltd.com.
Click here for a great video from the day, capturing the essence of the annual Stokesley 30 Mile Bike Ride.
