Virtual cyclists recognised with special awards

A special ceremony was held at the Beacon of Light to recognise those who had raised over £6,000 for the Foundation of Light during lockdown. Our planned Italian Cycle Challenge fell victim to COVID-19, however, our team of cyclists weren’t deterred and quickly hopped on their saddles to join our first-ever Virtual Cycle Challenge. The gauntlet was laid down for fundraisers to pedal the route that was planned for the Italy trip – 275 miles from Pisa to Rome – in scenic Sunderland. Just under 30 people took part in the challenge throughout June and kept each other motivated via the Foundation’s Strava group. Some inspiring stories came from the challenge, with Alan Cook overcoming a number of personal challenges to take part. Mark Nolan upped the ante a little bit and as well as our virtual challenge he also took on the vEverest challenge in aid of the Foundation. Susan Wright conquered the challenge from the comfort of her own home on her exercise bike, while Olympic runner Aly Dixon swapped the race track for a cycle path to get involved.