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A group of amateur cyclists from Stewart Milne Group who took part in a 730 mile cycle from Manchester to Aberdeen have raised £60,000 for charity with £20,000 being donated to Beatson Cancer Charity.
The “bike4forty” challenge, part of the group’s 40th anniversary celebrations, saw 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. The cyclists aimed to raise £40,000 for the charities but over the course of the challenge surpassed that target, raising a total of £60,000.
The Stewart Milne Group staff who took part in the cycle were 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.
Gary Milne said: “The bike4forty challenge was an incredible experience for us and the whole time we were focussed on completing the cycle to raise money for these fantastic charities. We are absolutely overwhelmed by the generosity of everyone who sponsored us and we are thrilled to have smashed our fundraising target. Handing over the money to three such deserving causes is truly humbling for us as we have all seen first-hand what an incredible service they offer.”
David Welch, Chief Executive of Beatson Cancer Charity, said: “This is an incredible achievement and the Bike4forty team should be extremely proud, not only of the physical and courageous effort they endured during the challenge, but also for the enormous amount of money raised which will go a very long way in the fight against cancer, now and in the future.
“The fundraising events, sponsorship, visits to the different charity bases and family fun days were organised extremely well and we’re very proud of what has been achieved. We’re so grateful for the amazing support from the team and everyone across the Stewart Milne Group during this unique challenge and also throughout the strong partnership we have had with the organisation for many years.
“As demands on cancer services continue to grow, thanks to this incredible donation, we can continue to provide a truly fantastic level of patient and family support and wellbeing services as well as significant funding to enhance the wonderful care thousands of patients receive at The Beatson and related facilities each year.
“I look forward to the partnership between Beatson Cancer Charity and Stewart Milne Group growing even stronger and I can’t thank them enough for this fantastic fundraising success. The amount raised shows how much support is out there and we feel very privileged to be a beneficiary of the team’s success.”
Beatson Cancer Charity supports The Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre and its related facilities and is committed to the fight against cancer in a wide variety of ways, from patient wellbeing to the funding of treatment, care and research. Stewart Milne Homes Central Scotland has a longstanding relationship with Beatson Cancer Charity and has raised £95,000 for it over the past four years.
The Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre is the busiest and second biggest cancer centre in the UK and delivers more than 25,000 courses of chemotherapy and 6,500 courses of radiotherapy to 8,000 new patients a year. A number of companies provided corporate sponsorship to support the bike4forty team including Encon, Morton Fraser, Burness Paull, NHBC, SMEG UK, WA Fairhurst, Future Factory, Extended Mind and Eclipse Planning.
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.
