Member Article

Staff from Bourne End business cycle north in aid of emergency fund

Staff from a Buckinghamshire-based personal loans business with a branch in Manchester have cycled from one area to the other and raised £4700 for the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund.

Seven employees from Everyday Loans’s UK HQ in Bourne End, near Maidenhead made the trip, finishing at the Manchester Arena, after three days and 180 miles of what was described as gruelling riding – spending six hours a day in the saddle.

Andrew Wayland, Marketing Director at Everyday Loans, explained the reasons for the effort. “Like most people in the UK we were really shocked by the terrorist attack last year – and with a branch in Manchester and colleagues living and working in the city – we wanted to do something to help.

“Some of our staff were into cycling so they suggested the ride. I would describe the whole experience as very hard and quite emotional at times, but good fun. The team faced an enormous climb on the last day through Ashbourne - with an incline of almost 1 in 5 - which really took it out of everyone, but it was all worth it.”

Fellow cyclist Sam Foster commented: “It was the hardest but most rewarding thing I have ever done in my life.”

Doubling the original donation target, the team raised £4700 in the end, which was presented to Councillor Sue Murphy, Chair of Trustees of the Emergency Fund outside Manchester Town Hall this week by Everyday Loans’ Manchester branch team Damion Rawden and Richard Craven.

Councillor Murphy said: “This was a tremendous effort by the Everyday Loans team and we are very grateful for an outstanding total raised. It is amazing how far and wide support has come and still keeps coming over a year after the terrible events of that night. The money will be used to continue to help all those affected.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sue Souter .