A team of amateur cyclists from Stewart Milne Group are ready to take on a 730-mile charity cycle thanks to support from their corporate sponsors.
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.
Ahead of them setting off from Manchester on April 7, the team have now received their kit for the ride which will take in every Stewart Milne Homes development in the country before finishing at the Group headquarters at Westhill, near Aberdeen, on April 15.
A number of companies have provided corporate sponsorship to support the team including Encon, Morton Fraser, Burness Paull, NHBC, SMEG UK, WA Fairhurst, Future Factory, Extended Mind and Eclipse Planning.
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.
Gary Milne said: “The support and sponsorship we have received from these companies is absolutely fantastic. There is a lot of kit and planning required for a challenge like this and none of it would be possible without their support. Their backing means the money we raise can go straight to the three charities, which for us is the most important part of this challenge.”
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.
The Archie Foundation assists with the healthcare of more than 175,000 sick children across the north of Scotland every year by buying specialist equipment, supporting families, creating amazing hospital environments, enhancing staff training, buying toys, funding research, providing specialist staff and responding in emergencies.
Beatson Cancer Charity is committed to the fight against cancer in a wide variety of ways, from patient wellbeing to the funding of treatment, care and research, and is Scotland’s largest cancer care centre, looking after more than 8,000 new patients every year. Stewart Milne Homes Central Scotland has a longstanding relationship with Beatson and has raised £95,000 for it over the past four years.
The Christie Cancer Charity raises money for a range of projects and initiatives focusing on four main areas which are above and beyond what the NHS provide. It funds ground-breaking research, essential care and treatment services, education and extra patient services, allowing the very highest standards of care, treatment and support to be extended to patients and their families across the north west of England.