Cyclists take on 300 mile challenge to raise funds for the London Irish Ward Appeal

Posted by Rebekah Ahmed on 04 May 2017

7am on 3 May saw eight cyclists setting off bright and early for an intense cycle challenge spanning over 300 miles, from their start point at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH) to Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital (OLCH) in Dublin. The cyclists are expected to arrive at the OLCH at 7pm on Friday 5 May with a Charity Cycle Dinner taking place the next day to celebrate the cyclists’ enormous achievement and raise even more money for both charities.

The sponsored cycle ride is the latest in a series of events being organised by The Kelly Group, as part of their London Irish Ward Appeal, which has raised £550,000 to date through the generosity of its supporters. This particular event will raise much needed funds for both The RNOH Charity, and CMRF Crumlin, the fundraising body for OLCH.

Professor Tim Briggs, the RNOH’s Director of Strategy and External Relations, said:

“The funds raised through this event, and through the London Irish Appeal as a whole, will quite simply transform the experience of the RNOH’s patients. They will enable us to purchase a range of equipment which will significantly improve our patients’ comfort, and the quality of care we are able to offer them. We cannot thank Tim Kelly, the Chairman of the Kelly Group, and the London Irish group enough for their support.”

The Appeal aims to build and fit out one of the RNOH’s new 32-bed adult wards, which will treat patients with a range of complex conditions, such as bone tumours, spinal deformity and sarcoma, a rare form of cancer requiring highly specialised treatment.

Chief event organiser Alan O’Reilly commented:

“This event marks the culmination of many months of training for our dedicated cyclists. While the weather has relented over the last few weeks, our cyclists have all braved a number of cold, dark and often wet weekend mornings to get themselves into peak condition for this challenging 250-plus mile cycle. A huge thanks to our sponsors, to our Cycle Committee, and of course to our intrepid cyclists themselves. We really are hugely appreciative of everyone’s hard work and generosity.”

We are incredibly grateful to Tim Kelly, who is leading the London Irish Ward Appeal, and to everyone that has so generously supported the appeal. For an update on the cycle challenge please visit the event's Facebook page. If you would like to support the cycle challenge, please visit the Virgin Money Giving page.