Eight bankers from Cambridge & Counties have raised over £5,000 for three charities by pedalling 350 miles in just three days from Lands End to the Bank’s Leicester HQ.
The bankers, five of whom have only bought a bike in the last three months, cycled more than 100 miles each day and in total scaled more than 20,000 feet of hills for the Leicester hospice LOROS, Cancer Research UK and the Motor Neurone Disease Association MNDA.
The team set off from Land’s End in Cornwall on Friday July 1 and arrived in Leicester on Sunday July 3, with overnight stops in Okehampton, Devon, and Chippenham, Wiltshire.
The eight riders – Alex Churchill, Tom Senior, Jess Cross, Kevin Rowbottom, Christian Cowie, Nigel Downes, Martin Leake and Richard Parkin, ably supported by Ian McKenzie and Adam Jolley – each chose which charity or charities they are riding for. In many cases their lives have been touched by the issues the charities address.
The team members are from Leicester, Hinckley, Rutland, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Birmingham. They set an overall target of raising in excess of £5,000, with each member having their own target of £333 each. After completing the challenge, the total raised was close to the £5,000 target – with donations still arriving.
Chief financial officer Ian McKenzie said:
“Cambridge & Counties Bank has a history of fundraising linked to sporting activities but this was a true feat of endurance. I am so pleased that all eight cyclists finished the epic ride back to the office from Land’s End. Elated and jubilant, but exhausted, they made their way home to a well-deserved rest.
“I want to thank each and every one of the team for their amazing efforts, their tolerance of pain and for their charitable spirit. The online donation pages are still open and I know our deserving charities are incredibly appreciative the team’s efforts and all those who have sponsored them. I feel privileged to have been part of such an amazing team.”