Cycling siblings thank Hospice for relatives’ care by raising thousands!

Two sets of bicycling brothers recently took to two wheels, to raise funds for Arthur Rank Hospice Charity, after their close relatives received the Hospice’s care.  Tony (Devon) and Danny (Haverhill) Rudd pedalled from London to Paris on 18 – 22 September, raising over £4000 in memory of their mum Rita Ann Rudd. In August, Alex Levitt-Powell and Dan Powell, who grew up in Linton, took part in Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100; they raised £1000 as part of a series of challenges that have now raised a grand total of £3673.68 in memory of their Grandfather, Don Roope. Arthur Rank Hospice Charity has enjoyed strong support from several sets of siblings over the years, as family members chose to join #TeamArthur together and take on a personal challenge.  As well as enabling them to raise funds for the Hospice by way of a thank you, relatives of patients have discovered that training or aiming towards a common goal, gives them a chance to bond and spend valuable time together.  On their JustGiving Page, Dan and Tony explained that they were taking on London to Paris Cycle Ride as a way of showing their appreciation to the “wonderful” staff at the Hospice who loved and cared for their Mum in her last few days:“We want to raise as much money as possible to enable this wonderful facility to continue delivering the outstanding services it provides.” Having completed the epic 300-mile cycle across two countries in four days last month, Tony explained: “Every penny raised was through sheer determination to finish in honour of our Mum. No matter how hard it gets and how bad you feel, somewhere in the world there are people worse off than you. Never give up, keep going, we just kept reminding ourselves why we were there doing this.”Danny adds: “It was very special to be able to take part in this challenge together and being able to support each other through to the finish. Being with each other, in honour of our Mum made it more special, something we will both cherish for a long time.” Meanwhile – just the month before and having completed Cambridge Half Marathon every year since 2016 and London Marathon in 2018 – Alex Levitt-Powell, decided to “switch to cycling for a different challenge”. He decided to take on the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100, bringing his brother Dan along ‘for the ride’ (!).  Alex explains their motivation:  “A few years ago, our Grandfather passed away beautifully while in the Hospice. What stood out was that the Hospice and its staff gave very personalised, patient-led care. Grandad had his wishes met and was able to carry on doing his thing rather than being beaten by his illness. Whether it was therapeutic foot massages or the prescribing of Abbot Ale on his daily prescription – Grandad was treated with respect and dignity. Ever since then I have wanted to help them in any way I possibly could. More recently, my fundraising has also been motivated by the possibility of others benefitting from the care the Hospice can provide. We wanted to enable other families and patients to have similar experiences to ours.”Talking about taking on the strenuous 100-mile cycle, which he and his brother completed in 5 hours 57 minutes, he adds:“I knew it would take some guts, but we both had the most amazing day!  When we were little whenever we had the chance, we would chase each other, on our bikes, around ‘the block’ and local streets. It was special to be able to think back to those times when we were cycling.  At points I think we were still chasing each other; our brotherly competitive nature would come to the fore!  But it was special to do something together for the Hospice and raise money for a cause so close to our family and to make them all proud.  Every time I finish an event, I think of the impact the fundraising will have for patients. We feel honoured to support a fantastic Hospice and have discovered a new love of cycling!”.To find out more about taking on Prudential RideLondon 100, London to Paris, the Vietnam to Cambodia cycle challenge, the Costa Rica Coast to Coast or any other bespoke cycling challenge visit arhc.org.uk/cycle.asp or call Amy or Carolyn on 01223 675888.