Leasedrive Velo team raises over £13,500 for Marie Curie Cancer Care in London to Paris Bike Ride
Howard Lake | 26 June 2008 | News
A team of 14 riders entered by Leasedrive Velo, one of the UK’s largest independent privately-owned vehicle management groups, successfully completed a 250-mile charity bike ride between London and Paris in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care and in doing so smashed its fund-raising target of £5,000 by so far raising over £13,500 for the 60-year-old charity.
Team leader and commercial director of Leasedrive Velo, Roddy Graham said: “The sheer feeling of elation as we all rode up the Champs Elysées to the Arc de Triomphe was matched only by the fact that we knew when we set off from Parliament Square we had far exceeded our fund-raising expectations for Marie Curie Cancer Care. Currently, the figure stands at over £13,500 and we fully expect to have exceeded £14,000 by the time all the money comes in.”
“The care Marie Curie, our nominated company charity since 2005, provides terminally-ill patients is simply unbelievable and has touched all those who have given so generously for this worthwhile cause. I cannot express enough my appreciation to all of our corporate sponsors and individual donors, to the support staff who accompanied us on our journey and, above all, to the riders who gave freely of their time and energy in completing the distance.”
The Leasedrive Velo team started from London on Thursday June 19 and rode 68 miles to Folkestone. The longest day between Calais and Abbeville saw the team cover the greatest distance, 75 miles, and the most challenging terrain through the ‘Seven Valleys’. Day three to Beauvais was 59 miles while the 48 miles of the final day saw a total distance covered of 250 miles between Parliament Square, London and the Arc de Triomphe, Paris.
Corporate sponsors were Leasedrive Velo, Thrifty Car & Van Rental, Dick Lovett, Reach, CHP Alfa, KFC, National Mobile Windscreens, Kwik-Fit Fleet, Intelligent Data Systems and Total Accident Management.
The riders were Roddy Graham, Ivor Johnson, Karen Bowen, Paul Newman, Matt Lenton, Patrick Lucas, Jeremy Snook, Chris Snook, Mark Ley, John Wilson, Edward Pigg, Richard Boyce, Richard Simmonds and Warren Calvert. The support crew consisted of Martyn Keefe, Steve Edwards, Sarah Simmonds and Claire Aitkinson.
Last-minute online donations to the Leasedrive Velo London to Paris Bike Ride in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care can be made by visiting
http://www.justgiving.com/london-to-paris
Alternatively, please send a cheque made payable to ‘Marie Curie Cancer Care’ to Roddy Graham, Commercial Director at Leasedrive Velo, Crowthorne House, Nine Mile Ride, Wokingham, Berkshire RG40
3GA.
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Notes to Editors:
Marie Curie Cancer Care
Marie Curie Cancer Care is one of the UK’s largest charities. It was established in 1948 – the same year as the NHS – and marks its 60th anniversary in 2008. Employing more than 2,700 nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals, Marie Curie Cancer Care expects to provide care to around 27,000 terminally ill patients in the community and in its hospices in 2008 along with support for their families. Marie Curie Cancer Care has ten hospices across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and two centres for palliative care research. While Marie Curie Cancer Care mainly cares for people with cancer it also cares for people with other life limiting illnesses. The charity also runs the world-renowned Marie Curie Research Institute, which investigates the causes and treatments of cancer.
Leasedrive Velo
Leasedrive Velo was formed following the merger of the Leasedrive Group and Velo in 2007. The group is one of the largest independent privately-owned vehicle management groups in the UK offering the highest quality bespoke total fleet management service to blue chip clients. It operates two divisions: Leasedrive Velo Vehicle Management and Leasedrive Velo Rental Management from hi-tech headquarters in Wokingham. Leasedrive Velo is winner of the 2007 ITM Award for ‘UK Independent Vehicle Management Company’, 2007 and 2006 Thames Valley Business Magazine ‘Business Management Team’ Award, 2006 Fleet News Award for ‘Best Contract Hire/Fleet Management Company’ and 2006 GreenFleet Award for ‘Leasing/Rental Company of the Year’.
For more information, visit:
www.leasedrivevelo.com
For further press information on Leasedrive Velo, contact either commercial director, Roddy Graham on 01344 466466 or Jeremy Snook at JSPR on 01488 670002.
Fax: 01488 670008. E-mail: je**********@js**.uk
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.