24 May 2011

Charity begins at Lands End...again

Southdowns ‘Charity Support Vehicle’ sees active service on epic bike ride to raise money for charity

 The Southdowns charity support vehicle was back on the by-now familiar road from Lands End to John O’Groats earlier this summer.

This time the motorhome was with cyclists Team LeJog who have raised an impressive £15,000 for three very deserving charities.

The four-man Team LeJog successfully completed their ride from Lands End to John O’Groats over 12 days starting on 13 June 2011. The four men are Andrew Haines, Duncan Elley and Neil Porter (all from Etesian Capital Partners) and Mark Holroyd (from Specsavers).

They are delighted that they have exceeded their original £10,000 target of raising funds for three charities: - The Wooden Spoon (children’s charity) - The Christchurch Earthquake Appeal (through the Charities Aid Foundation) - Back-Up Trust. The cyclists financed the trip themselves with all funds raised being split evenly between the three organisations.

The journey from one end of the country to the other involved riding for eight to ten hours and covering roughly 100 miles a day. This mammoth effort was made even more difficult by the fact that none of the team had ridden more 60 miles before and two of the team did not own a road bike until February. The team organised the route themselves, took care of their own bike maintenance and in their own words “ None of us are in shape and none of us are getting any younger!”

They did have a little help from Southdowns, who loaned them a Laika motorhome to carry spare parts for their bikes and to act as home to Duncan’s mum, dad, wife and two children who provided support to the team while they were on the road.

According to Team Le Jog's Andrew Haines the Laika was the perfect vehicle for a touring trip, comfortable to drive and with plenty of storage space. “With the charity logo on the van we were constantly attracting attention,” he says. “People regularly came over and gave us cash for the charities”.

If you would like to contribute to Team LeJog’s continuing fundraising efforts, go to http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/LEJOG__2011

Click here for the summer's earlier Land's End to John O'Groats trip