I am overwhelmed.
Rennie Grove Hospice Care has been Agency Local Charity of the year for the last two years now. A wonderful charity that allows people at the end of life to be cared for where we would all like to be at that stage of our lives … at home.
Like most charities they have been hit by covid – the retail income form the many shops has completely dried up as they have not been open. From a personal standpoint, this is why taking on the TeamForge Cycle Challenge over the last few days to raise much needed funds for Rennie Grove was a must do for me.
We did it!!
35 cyclists (two on a tandem) completed the 350 mile round trip over four days with 17,000 feet of climbing. I can’t deny it was hard – as many people that know me know I love cycling but I’ll usually ride 40 to 50 miles at the weekend if the weather’s good! I wouldn’t usually choose to cycle an average of 85 miles a day over four consecutive days, whatever the weather, but I’m really proud to have been a part of it.
The routes were as follows:
Day 1 – St Albans to Southampton 101 miles – through a lot of rain Day 2 – Round the Isle of Wight – 66 miles but very hilly! Day 3 – Southampton to Swindon – 95 miles – Beautiful route through the New Forest and Salisbury Plain Day 4 – Swindon back to St Albans – Final leg 81 miles through the Cotswolds and Chilterns
Agency Local Involvement
I am very proud to say that Agency Local were Silver sponsors – with our logo on the shirts. In fact the logo was often in my face as I followed other cyclists! We were part of the organising committee helping and advising on the Marketing of the event. We built and managed the website, established the social media presence and advised on communications activity.
Proud proud proud
What we have achieved I am so proud of. The camaraderie and support from every rider towards each other was amazing. I am sure other riders will not mind me highlighting two individuals. Firstly, Brian Robson who completed the challenge aged 74!
Secondly David Clarke who is blind, completed the challenge on the back of a tandem with the help of the ‘team’ who took it in turns to go ahead and check crossings, making sure the tandem could cross safely without losing too much momentum. TeamForge – was really a team and one that I am proud to say I am part of.
Fundraising – that’s what it is all about.
The response has been astronomical. At present we stand to have raised £145,000. We are hoping that the final tally will be nearer the £150,000. This is a massive achievement and will fund two nurses for a whole year! This has been the biggest ever single fundraising event in the history of Rennie Grove!
THANK YOU
I want to take this opportunity to thank all of the Agency Local community, Foals and friends that have made a contribution. The support from our community has been immense and I thank every one of you for supporting me and most of all for supporting Rennie Grove. You are superb! For the video of us arriving back at the end of day 4 – head over to the LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6843160086211387392
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