Hundreds Cycle Together on Sandringham charity day

Thousands of pounds are expected to have been raised during the sixth annual Cycle Together Sandringham, which was held in scorching temperatures on Sunday.

Around 300 riders took part in the event, which raises funds for the Park House Hotel, owned by the charity Leonard Cheshire Disability.

Participants started and finished their rides in the hotel’s grounds, covering routes of between 10 and 150 miles in between.

The hotel also hosted activities including a teddy bears picnic, while disabled riders were given the chance to try a range of bikes through Leonard Cheshire’s own cycling project.

Funds from this year’s event will be used to create a new outdoor activity area and start a fund to provide specially adapted bikes for disabled guests.

Park House manager Tess Gilder, who herself rode the 10 mile route, said: “It was a fantastic day and everyone really enjoyed it. The cyclists on our new 150-mile route were elated when they crossed the finish line.

“All money raised will make a massive difference to everyone visiting Park House, allowing us to provide great new accessible facilities A huge thank you to everyone.”

Park House fundraiser Phil Davies was one of 30 riders who tackled the new 150 mile route.

He said: “It’s a day that none of us will ever forget. It was beautiful riding through the Norfolk countryside – picturesque and definitely not flat. There were 30 riders tackling the 150 miles in the heat, and we all had to dig deep to get to the finish, but felt huge satisfaction when we got there.”

Former RAF engineer Bob Tavener also tackled the 150-mile route, honouring his former squadron by wearing Dambusters squadron number 617.

High among the squadron’s heroes is charity founder Leonard Cheshire, the squadron’s former leader and Britain’s most decorated pilot of the conflict.

You can sponsor both of them online via justgiving.com/philip-davies68 or justgiving.com/robert-tavener respectively.