Our 2020 Virtual Italian Cycle Ride

One week on from our amazing Virtual cycling challenge, we would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who joined us (both taking part, and in spirit), and to everyone who shared our posts, cheered the team on, and supported our team captains, Gary Dawson and Martin Hibbert, with a donation.

In particular, we want to say a huge thank you to our Support Network Coordinator, Gary. True to his word, he completed all three days of our virtual challenge.  He managed a mammoth session of 200 miles on his handbike over three days – having pledged to do so if we could raise over £5000…a target that they absolutely smashed!

As of today, the team has raised almost £16,000 which really is an outstanding effort. We had 49 others taking part alongside Gary and Martin, with some completing the 66.2 mile challenge indoors on their handbikes, and others taking advantage of the sunshine to get out on their bikes and put in the miles. Our supporters CFG Law also put their own spin on things, with 25 of their staff cycling, running and walking a combined 250 miles, whilst also raising just under £3000  – a big thank you to them.

Alongside all the fundraising, we also managed to raise a huge amount of awareness, with articles featured in the Daily Telegraph and a handful of local newspapers. Martin Hibbert was interviewed on BBC Breakfast news, and ITV evening news on the day of the challenge. It even went international, with Martin being interviewed by an Australian TV News channel which included a very special message of support from film superstar, Chris Hemsworth.

However, we couldn’t have done it without the amazing team of over 50 people who took part.  These included many of our amazing cycling team, past and present and cyclists from our supporters: CFG Law, Emma Way Associates, Irwin Mitchell, Leigh Day and Slater and Gordon.

Thank you to everyone for helping to make our 2020 ‘Virtual’ Italian cycle ride such a success, and we look forward to updating everyone on how the real thing goes next year!

Hear more from Gary and Martin in the video below: