Three members of staff from our regional stores hit the road this June with the aim of raising over £5000 for the East Anglian Air Ambulance.
The terrific trio aimed to cover more than 500 miles in just five days, visiting 35 Hughes stores across Cambridgeshire, Essex, Lincolnshire, Norfolk & Suffolk! The epic journey started in Spalding on 6th June and finished five gruelling days later on 10th June.
The ride was the brainchild of Nigel Jeavons and David Youngs who work in Hughes’ Hunstanton and Wisbech stores, respectively.
Nigel and David were joined area manager Malcolm Tuff. The fourth cyclist, Aaron Beck from King’s Lynn, was devastated when ill health forced him to pull out of the ride on day one. After putting in all the tough training he was forced to retire but was happy to cheer the team on.
We spoke to the team to find out more about their preparations – and the inspiration behind their huge effort.
“We are all keen amateur cyclists but 30-40 miles was usually our limit,” said David Youngs. “So we each undertook our own training regimes to build up to the 100 miles a day required.
“As our journey covered five counties we thought the East Anglian Air Ambulance would be a worthy charity to support.
“While we had set a £5,000 target we hope to raise more and are looking to businesses and individuals across the region to sponsor us. However much, or little, the sponsorship is it all counts and the money will be going to an organisation that saves lives 365 days a year. We are very grateful to the seven businesses that have already pledged money.”
Over five tough days (in almost every kind of weather), the cyclists visited 34 Hughes branches in and around East Anglia, covering a distance of over 500 miles in an effort to reach their target of £5000.
Special thanks to Gibbons Cycles of Spalding who loaned the team a bike GPS system that guided them on their journey, Barnham Broom Hotel who supplied free accommodation for the last night, Robert Hughes, managing director of Hughes, kindly paid for accommodation and Hoover Ltd. who sponsored the cycling outfits.
The team are particularly grateful to the main sponsors: Charmed Interiors of Downham Market, AYF Limited, Rounce & Evans Property Management, Anglia Log Cabins, The Lodge at Old Hunstanton, Fishers Of Hunstanton, Heacham Lavender Tea Rooms, AT Johnsons, The Princess Theatre, Caley Hall Hotel, The White Horse (Holme), Britons Estate Agents, Flemming Bros. and Millthorne Development.
On reaching King’s Lynn the team were cheered on in the street and met in by friends, family and supporters. Amongst them was Chris Donaldson, Area Fund Raising Manager for East Anglian Air Ambulance. Chris told us “This is an amazing example of corporate support for us. It’s alright for me to say thank you but of course the people that will really mean thank you are the people the Air Ambulance will attend tomorrow and whose lives will be saved thanks to money like this coming in from the public. Absolutely fantastic effort and we are so grateful.”
If you’re inspired by the cycle ride and want to donate, you can do so by visiting the JustGiving page and you can read more about the life-saving and life-changing work that East Anglia Air Ambulance does here.
The latest figures are in… a grand total of £8908.00 has been raised!
