News

Date

23/01/2008

City to city ride raises £31,000 for Heart Research

Eighty cyclists have completed a gruelling 127 miles along the Leeds-Liverpool Canal to celebrate the 800^th birthday of both cities.

Amongst these intrepid cyclists were Richard Squire and Nick Child of Shepherd Developments and Andrew Crowther of the Scarborough Development Group, both based in Leeds.

Appropriately they set off from their joint office development City Point on Park Place in Leeds city centre and finished at their City Square development in Liverpool city centre after three tiring days, with overnight stops in Burnley and Wigan along the way

Richard Squire commented: "This was a gruelling three days, especially with the temperamental weather. It was tough going because around half of the path by the canal is just a track which got quite muddy due to the heavy rain.

"The sense of achievement of riding 130 miles was fantastic, especially when the finish line of City Square came in to sight and each rider was cheered home. It was rather special for us, setting off and finishing at our developments in cities which are both celebrating major landmarks.  I should add, in passing, that there is office space available in both developments, some 25,000 Ft² in Leeds and 6,000 Ft² in Liverpool".

He added: "This is a splendid cause and I would like to thank everyone who has been so generous in their sponsorship. Overall, the ride has raised more than £31,000."

This incredible test of endurance was organised by local charity Heart Research UK, which is celebrating its 40^th birthday.

As Heart Research UK is the Lord Mayor's official charity for 2007-2008 the cyclists took a present from the Lord Mayor of Leeds Councillor Brian Cleasby to the Lord Mayor of Liverpool in honour of the two cities birthdays.

The route boasts some of the most beautiful sights in the country, following the picturesque Yorkshire Dales through Lancashire Mill towns and past the famous Aintree Racecourse.

In the past 40 years Heart Research UK has funded over £14 million of research in Leeds alone, making Leeds one of the top heart centres in the UK and enabling Leeds University to develop their artificial heart device. This is a unique project that focuses on using a man made muscle to aid tired hearts, which could help thousands of people with heart disease live longer lives.

In total the cyclists raised more than £31,000 from sponsorship which will greatly aid the work of Heart Research UK, to spread the healthy heart message and to support scientific and charitable efforts in the fight against heart disease. Already, £7500 has been raised from sponsors, Shepherd Developments, Shepherd Construction, Scarborough Development Group, Knight Frank, GVA Grimley, Mason Owen, Ryden and CBRE, which enabled the event to take place.

For further information please contact Jennifer Ward at Heart Research UK on 0113 297 6205 or Robert Beaumont of Robert Beaumont Associates on 01423 323139

Additional notes to editor

Heart Research UK

Heart Research UK is a visionary charity founded in 1967 by Mr Watson, a working heart surgeon, who realised that patients were dying unnecessarily because of the lack of research in heart disease, especially surgical techniques.  Having funded six of the first eight UK heart transplants the charity leads the way funding ground breaking, medical research projects into the prevention, treatment and cure of heart disease.  There is a strong emphasis on supporting clinical and surgical projects and young researchers on their first steps into research. The Charity currently funds over £2.5m of research projects at 33 hospitals and universities across the UK. In addition over £280,000 has been awarded to community-based lifestyle projects that aim to prevent or reduce the risks of heart disease.