Bike challenge pedals up £10k for foundation - The Evesham Observer

Bike challenge pedals up £10k for foundation

Evesham Editorial 15th Apr, 2018   0

A TEAM of 23 cyclists, which included Evesham’s Helen Russell, has raised an incredible £10,000 for charity after saddling up for a ride from the Liberty Stadium in Swansea to the Hawthorns in time for West Bromwich Albion’s Premier League clash with their Welsh visitors.

Now in its fourth year, this edition of the Baggies Bike Challenge included former West Bromwich Albion players Brendon Batson and Bob Taylor, as well as Free Radio DJ ‘Hursty’ and fund-raiser ‘Blind Dave’ Heeley.

The cyclists set off from Swansea City’s stadium and rode more than 150 miles on a route which took them over the Brecon Beacons and through Abergavenny, Hereford and Worcester, before arriving in West Bromwich for the clash.

On arrival the riders were welcomed into the WBA Fanzone at the Hawthorns and received a rapturous applause whilst doing a lap of honour around the pitch at half-time. The challenge has so far raised just over £10,000 with the final total expected to be around £15,000.




The money will go towards the work of The Albion Foundation, which runs a range of community outreach projects including, school visits and extra curriculum education, working with children in care, Alzheimer’s memories cafes, disability sports competitions and female sports development programmes.

Helen, the current British Quadrathlon Champion, is the first woman to have participated in the Baggies Bike Challenge and as well as raising funds hopes her participation will have shown young female Baggies fans they can enjoy and succeed in sport.


“I’d like to thank everyone that has donated to my fund-raising. The ride was tough but there was great camaraderie from all the riders, which helped us all to keep on pedalling. Being able to ride alongside Brendon Batson and Bob Taylor also made the ride very special for all the cyclists.”

Former WBA centre forward, Taylor, who scored 113 goals in 218 games for the Baggies in the 1990s said: “We don’t do the ride for a round of applause or the adulation. I and the other riders do it because we want to give something back and give to The Albion Foundation, which is a great cause.”

Visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/helenrussell-baggiesbikechallenge for more on the challenge.

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