August 31, 2016
On Saturday 27th August, the weekend I left the UK, I had my long awaited fundraising bash in my hometown Scarborough. There were around 150 people there and it was such an awesome day for various reasons. The first – and most important – reason was that we raised an amazing £2,046! At the time of writing this pushes me to £8,400, and I’m yet to put on the magnificent £750 that was raised at St Augustine’s, my old Secondary School. I can’t explain how grateful I was to everyone that attended the party, I know people made a lot of effort to be there and it makes me so happy that they would do that for me.
The event including various activities such as a race day, a turbo competition, a bag hang competition, live music, hog roast, DJ. Instead of writing a post I will leave my speech here for you to read…..
Hello everyone and welcome to Ride For The Child fundraising party. I’ve very grateful for you all attending, thanks very much!
I imagine most of you know what’s happening but here’s a quick recap.
Next Thursday 1st September I will be setting off from San Fransisco and, after cycling for 28 consecutive days, I hope to reach New York on the other side of the country. It’s a distance of around 3200 miles which means an average of 120 miles per day, the distance from here to Manchester. I’m already nervous enough as it is so would rather not say any more. There are various posters around the room which explain things in a bit more detail and I’ve got a little video to show you now.
I am joined on this challenge by four people at various points throughout the four weeks…..
My best friend Rob aka RTFC support manager. My cousin Matty, aka deadlift dietitian, are with me throughout the whole trip. I’m not fully sure they understand just how bad my kit will smell when they’re washing it and also that they have to massage me several times daily!
We are joined by Jordan, my work colleague, for the second week. Jordan reckons he’s going to get a second hand bike and do a few miles with me, so as strange as it may sound I can’t wait to see his bottom bouncing in front of me breaking wind.
Rob’s cousin Chris is also coming along with us for the last two. We are yet to determine his role but the title “bottom butler” has been mentioned, I won’t go into detail about that here.
I want to publicly say that I’m hugely grateful for these lads for making my dreams become a reality. This trip wouldn’t have got off the ground without these fine men, who are giving up their time to come help me, so can we please have a round of applause for them.
For those who aren’t aware RFTC is raising money for children via two charities.
Action on hearing Loss is a hearing charity which helps young people deal with their deafness and CLIC Sargent who help young people and their families deal with cancer. Over the past year I have seen he work of both these charities and they do an excellent job, helping many young people and have a huge impact on their lives.
My aim is to raise 10,000 and to date I have just short of 6000. Since moving to Cheshire I have really started to understand just how tight the people of Yorkshire are! BUT you can all redeem yourselves today by getting your hands into your pockets and help me in achieving that 10k target I so badly want to reach.
Firstly I just want to thank anyone who has helped me over the past year. There are too many people to mention and so many tiny selfless acts that have made everything so much easier, you all know who you are so thanks very much for that. They have been unbelievable. Can we have a round of applause for all these people.
I would like to thanks Stepney Hill Farm who provided their venue for this event. Kaitlyn has been hugely helpful throughout the process and they have been super making all this happen and not only is this an excellent local business but they’re also lovely people! Can Kaitlyn come up to the front and a round of applause for her…
Next is Our superstar DJ and all round technical man Robert from R & O Sound and lighting. He also provided his services out of the goodness of his heart and he has been amazing at sorting everything. Can he come out and we give him a round of applause please…
Finally there’s Nick Sheader from Homebuilder who purchased the bike which I will ride America on. He purchased the bike from Grip Cycles who were also excellent in sorting us out. I’ve had the unfortunate experience of knowing Nick for a number of years. He didn’t have to spend thousands getting me a awesome bike but he did. Can Nick Sheader please come up and can he have a round of applause…
Finally thanks to all you lot for coming, I’ve had such a greta day so far and the party is only just getting started! Now onto the raffle, get your tickets at the ready!
I also have the following businesses to thank for donation raffle prizes…
