MAG charity bike ride still going strong in 2021

Covid-19 won’t stop the sector’s charity riders from getting on their bikes to raise cash for Mines Advisory Group (MAG) following the launch of their 2021 campaign.

The group of industry employees from across wholesale and convenience are coming together again to fundraise for MAG, but this time in the UK.

A schedule of eight dates in eight locations across the nation have been arranged for June and July will be the sixth annual cycle in support of the landmine clearance charity.

More than 75 industry representatives have taken part previously to raise £673,000 for MAG over the years and while the riders won’t be experiencing same adventures as usual, organisers still hope there will be a good turn out.

“We’d normally have travelled to south-east Asia in February to ride in a part of the world seriously affected by landmines and unexploded bombs,” said co-founder Tom Fender, who set up the cycle with Neil Turton and Raj Krishan in 2015.

“But obviously this year we are unable to do this due to the global pandemic. We have therefore decided to move the ride to the UK in 2021, across eight dates and locations.”

The rides are scheduled to take place as far north as Newcastle and Glasgow, out west to South Wales and Bristol and in major cities, London and Manchester.

People can sign up for only one leg of the rides or more, and will cover 45 to 50 miles per day at a comfortable pace with plenty of stops to make it accessible for riders of all abilities.

The price to sign up is £295 with a commitment to raise another £100 in sponsorship.

Turton added: “While we’d normally love to visit a country where and have the chance witness clearance first hand in the field, where MAG teams do fantastic work for local communities in former war torn areas, the switch to UK rides in 2021 means more people in the industry can join us this year as we have up to 150 places available.”

The locations and dates for the rides are:

24 June – Newcastle

25 June – Glasgow

1 July – Bristol

2 July – South Wales

7 July – Midlands

9 July – London

15 July – Yorkshire

16 July – Manchester

For more information, contact Tom at tom@wsale.co.uk or Neil on neilturton@runbox.com.

charity cycle MAG Mines Advisory Group Neil Turton Tom Fender