News

Date

29/06/2007

CITY TO CITY RIDE RAISES £20,000 FOR HEART RESEARCH

Today (29th June 2007) 80 cyclists set off from Leeds to cycle a gruelling 127 miles along the Leeds-Liverpool Canal to celebrate the 800th 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 will finish 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, before he set off: "This promises to be a gruelling three days, but I'm as ready as I will ever be. It is rather special for us, setting off and finish 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 sq ft in Leeds and 6,000 sq ft 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 should raise more than £20,000."

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

As Heart Research UK is the Lord Mayor's official charity for 2007-2008 the cyclists will be taking 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.

Each participant has raised at least £250 in sponsorship to take part in the 2007 Canal Bike Challenge; anyone that has raised over £500 will be entered into a free prize draw to win a mountain bike provided by Pinsent Masons, supplied with a further discount by the Bike Shop in Cross Gates, Leeds.

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.

The cyclists will ride over all cycle friendly sections of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal towpath and some sections of the National Cycle Network and the Lancashire Cycle Way where the path is in poor condition. This is the first organised riding of the canal and it is hoped it will become an annual fundraising event for Heart Research UK.

In total the cyclists are expected to raise more than £20,000 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 has enabled the event to take place.