Businesses’ pedal power nets thousands for Wiltshire Air Ambulance

Members of a popular business networking group, along with some of their friends, have got on their bikes for charity, breezing through a 100-mile cycle and smashing their fundraising target.

The team from Aspire Networking pedalled a circular route starting and finishing at Stratton House Hotel, Cirencester, with the aim of raising at least £5,000 for Wiltshire Air Ambulance (WAA).

It took seven hours of solid cycling to complete the challenge, stopping for lunch halfway at the WAA headquarters in Semington, before heading back to Cirencester.

Nigel Pursall, founder of Aspire and director of Orange Stripe Telecom, said they wanted to pull out all the stops to support Wiltshire Air Ambulance, which needs £4.5m a year to continue saving lives, and relies on public donations. It is not directly funded by the government and receives no National Lottery funding.

“When Naomi Barker from WAA joined the Aspire Swindon group in February this year taking the charity seat, we knew very quickly what a fantastic service she represented, and wanted to do something to support her,” said Nigel.

“The ride went without a hitch or puncture. The weather was brilliant, and our support team of eight or so people and support vehicles were superb. My wife Dawn and her team laid on lunch for when we arrived at the WAA Semington base. Justin Dowling parked his black beast of a truck across junctions so we could cycle through without stopping.”

The Aspire team included Paula Dagnall, who runs Swindon Design & Development, sports and clinical therapist Nick White, and Mike Land, of Nickel Design.

Mike also plans to support Wiltshire Air Ambulance, by attempting to break the world record for how far a van can be pulled in 24 hours.

He said: “It was a lovely day, the ride was amazing, and we are now looking at making this an annual event for Aspire.”

The Aspire team are still fundraising, hoping to boost their sponsorship as much as possible. Their total now stands at more than £6,300. To sponsor them, visit https://www.justgiving.com/team/justgiving-aspire-100.

For more about Aspire Networking, which has branches in Swindon and Cirencester, visit https://www.aspirenetworking.co.uk/.