June 2015: RES riders contribute to fundraising for Renewable World
Staff from RES take part in 200 mile cycle race from Durham to Edinburgh
On Saturday 13 June and Sunday 14 June 47 cyclists took part in the inaugural 200-mile Earth, Wind and Tyre cycle ride from Durham to Edinburgh in order to raise money for energy poor communities in developing countries and to celebrate Global Wind Day, 15 June 2015. Renewable World is well on its way to reaching the £50,000 fundraising target for the event.
The ride was huge success with the riders reaching the finish line at the Cannongate Kirk on the Royal Mile, Edinburgh to a huge welcome from volunteers, locals and sponsors.
The group of riders include Graham Pannell and David Woodhead, who both completed the full 200 miles over the two days - with Graham successfully securing third place in the race!
RES also entered a group of riders – Calum Townsley, Chris Collins, Jeremy Bass, Stephen Peters, Kirsten Sweeney and Paul Sweeney - who completed the route as a relay team.
The cyclists from RES - and from twelve other renewable energy companies - completed the gruelling 200 mile ride, which passed ten wind farms, including Black Hill Wind Farm, and climbed the equivalent height of Mont Blanc over the two days. The cyclists passed through County Durham, Northumberland, the Scottish Borders – including Greenlaw, Duns and Longformacus - and East Lothian on their way to Edinburgh.
The cyclists were cheered on along the route by a dedicated support team of volunteers and sponsors. RES sponsored a food stop hosted at Duns Rugby Club, with the RES team preparing fresh smoothies using a cycle driven blender.
As well as cycling, the participants have been hard at work fundraising. Through Earth, Wind and Tyre, Renewable World is on track to raise £50,000 to help families, businesses and schools in energy poor communities access life-changing clean energy and water.
Sarah Donnelly, a trustee for Renewable World, said:
“I can’t thank the cyclists enough taking on the 200 mile challenge. I’m so proud of everything that has been achieved this weekend, and all the work the cyclists have put into training and fundraising over the past 3 months. I have seen the great work that Renewable World is doing in some of the poorest parts of the world first hand. The funds raised will help us to provide power to encourage self sufficiency and alleviate poverty."
Kirsten Sweeney, RES Community Relations Manager, said:
“We had an excellent two days taking part in this fantastic event for an extremely worthwhile cause. The team at Renewable World did a fantastic job organising this event and we really hope that we get the chance to take part again next year.
“Everyone that took part had a great time. Thank you to the RES staff who gave up their weekend to take part in the race and help out at the event.”
Renewable World is a UK based charity that works with rural communities in Africa, Asia and Central America, developing and providing simple renewable energy systems to encourage self-sufficiency and alleviate poverty.
If you would like to support Renewable World and riders taking part in the Earth, Wind and Tyre challenge then please visit https://www.justgiving.com/teams/earthwindtyre or look out on Twitter for #EarthWindTyre for updates and pics.