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A team of amateur cyclists from the Stewart Milne Group is set to clock up more than 730 gruelling miles raising money for three healthcare charities as they visit 20 of the Group’s homes developments across north west England and Scotland.
The “bike4forty” challenge, part of the company’s 40th anniversary celebrations, will see the eight members of staff travel 738 miles over nine days to raise funds for the Archie Foundation, Beatson Cancer Charity and the Christie Cancer Charity based in Aberdeen, Glasgow and Manchester respectively.
Starting in Manchester on 7 April, the team, none of whom has more than a few years’ cycling experience, will take in every Stewart Milne Homes development in the country before finishing at the Group headquarters at Westhill, near Aberdeen, on 15 April.
The cyclists, who aim to raise £40,000 for the charities, are Aileen Beverly and Joe Morris from Aberdeen; Gary Milne and Alan Sneddon from Edinburgh; Niall Campbell, Patrick Gardiner and Stuart Henderson from Glasgow; and Manchester-based Stephen Daintith.
Established in Aberdeen in 1975, Stewart Milne Group now operates across Scotland and North West England via its three homes divisions. It is also a leading supplier of innovative timber systems solutions to the UK construction industry from its manufacturing facilities in Aberdeenshire and Oxfordshire.
Gary Milne said: “Celebrating 40 years of achievement inspired a few of us to think big and mark the anniversary by tackling a challenge of a lifetime. The team has been in training for a number of months but none of us underestimate the extent to which this will push us to our limits.
“It felt like a great opportunity to celebrate passion, commitment and achievement, which mirror core values in the Stewart Milne Group. Most importantly, and having made personal visits to each of them to see the fantastic work they do, it is our sincere hope that we can generate a fantastic fundraising outcome for our three highly deserving bike4forty charities.
“There’s a fantastic team spirit across the company that we aim to harness as we visit 20 of our new home developments across the UK over these nine days, raising as much awareness and money as we possibly can in the process,” said Gary.
Claire Bush, head of fundraising at the Archie Foundation, said: “We are delighted to be one of the chosen charities for this incredible event. We are in deep admiration of all the cyclists’ dedication to the challenge and are looking forward to cheering them on at the finish line.”
Morag Cunningham, head of fundraising at Beatson Cancer Charity, said: “I’d like to give my sincere thanks to everyone at Stewart Milne Group for choosing us as one of the beneficiaries of this fantastic challenge. We wish the cyclists all the best and look forward to cheering them on throughout their epic journey. All money raised will go a very long way in the fight against cancer now and in the future and for that we are truly thankful.”
Mary McLaughlin of Christie Cancer Care said: “We are thrilled to have been chosen as one of the beneficiaries of this incredible challenge. The money raised will enable us to keep providing the exceptional level of care, treatment and support that The Christie is renowned for to our patients and their loved ones. We wish the riders all the best with their challenge and we are looking forward to welcoming them to Manchester.”
