Fundraisers’ charity challenges by car and bike

A TEAM of cyclists has completed a tough 1,123-mile charity bike ride through five countries to raise money for The Christie.

Joseph Holt Brewery chief executive Richard Kershaw led the team from Cherbourg in France to Esbjerg in Denmark, via Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany, to raise £15,000.

This will be doubled to £30,000 through the support of the Edward Holt and Peter Kershaw Trusts.

Mr Kershaw and his friend Roger Harvey completed the full route in only 14 days — averaging 80 miles a day. Other participants joined in at different stages.

The ride was a key part of the Joseph Holt Centenary Appeal for the Christie — an ambitious fundraising challenge to raise £300,000 over the next three years for the specialist cancer centre and to continue the brewery’s support for The Christie.

The inspiration came from Mr Kershaw’s great-grandfather, Sir Edward Holt, who raised £20,000 in 1914 to help build the Holt Radium Institute, one of the first cancer treatment hospitals in the country, which later become part of the modern-day Christie.

Donations can be made by visiting www.justgiving.com/5countriesforthechristie.

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