On 3rd June, 20 brave members of Chorley Cycling Club set off to cycle nearly 240 miles in a single day to raise money for Derian House. They departed from Buckingham Palace, London and finished at the Euxton Mills pub back in Chorley, Lancashire. A gruelling 241 miles, aptly named the ‘Palace 2 Pub ride’.
Chris Rainford of Chorley Cycling Club:
‘We had an epic day, everybody finished and we’ve raised nearly £15K so far, about £10K more than our original target, so Derian House are over the moon. There were a few sore backsides on the Sunday, but quite an achievement really, especially as the average age was about 49!!!’
About Derian House
Derian House does a fantastic job providing respite and end-of-life care to more than 400 children and young people across the North West. They create happy memories in an environment of fun, respect and above all, Outstanding Care. They do this 24 hours a day, seven days a week, never closed to those who need them.
Their help extends right across the family to brothers, sisters, parents and grandparents. They look after children and young people right up until their 26th birthday offering palliative care, respite stays, day care, holidays and end of life support. They continue to offer transition support for those young people once they leave up until their 28th birthday, ensuring they have a well-established network of support in their community.
The care Derian House provides is free for families, but services cost £6 million to run every year with under 30% of funding we need coming from the government. So any donations are extremely important and valued.
You can still donate through Chorley Cycling Club’s Just Giving page.
A Challenging Day for Chorley Cycling Club Riders
Chris Rainford, from the club, outlines how the day unfolded and the challenges faced on this heroic charity ride.
‘Back in 2022, we (Chorley Cycle Club) hatched a plan to ride from Buckingham Palace to Euxton Mills, aptly named the ‘Palace 2 Pub ride’.
Last Saturday, 3 June, 21 riders congregated at 05:00 outside Buckingham Palace to start the epic challenge of 241 miles with 9000ft of climbing, riding back to Chorley by last orders.
We started strongly and were soon at our first food stop by 08:20 near Bedford having navigated out of central London, which wasn’t as easy as it sounds.
After a huge full English, we were soon back on the road heading up to Lutterworth near Leicester for our 100 mile dinner stop. This is where it got a bit hilly, the sun came out and we had several punctures, so didn’t get to dinner until 13:00, about an hour down on our schedule.
We set off after dinner up to Rugeley in Staffs for our 150 mile stop which is where the temperature got up to scorchio, but luckily our brilliant support vans kept us fed and more importantly watered throughout.
We hit the 200 mile mark just south of Knutsford. The legs were starting to fall off for a few riders, but we all stuck together and headed on home, with darkness falling and lots of drunk football fans shouting encouragement through the Cheshire villages (at least I think it was encouragement!).
I saw the first Preston sign at 220 miles, and felt that was it, but the last 21 miles were really hard
We arrived at the pub just as last orders were being shouted at 23:30, with over a hundred friends and family cheering us on at the finish.
Thanks to all our sponsors for their invaluable support.’
We’d like to congratulate all of those involved, obviously the brave riders, but also all the supporters and other sponsors who turned this idea into a reality. What a fabulous achievement.
