Old Mill’s 300 mile cycle for School in a Bag

Old Mill have used pedal power to raise £7,916 for Yeovil charity School in a Bag.

Thirteen staff from West Country accountants and financial planners took part in Paris to Yeovil (P2Y)  - a 300 mile cycle ride from Paris to their offices at Maltravers House in Yeovil.

The money raised will help Yeovil based charity School in a Bag (SIAB)deliver rucksacks filled with stationery, learning resources and eating utensils to poor, orphan, vulnerable and disaster affected children.

The challenge was organised by David Rice based in the Yeovil office but staff from all the offices – Wells, Exeter, Melksham and Yeovil participated, with some riders literally taking up cycling to do the challenge.

Starting under the Eiffel Tower, the group rode more than 100 miles on the first day to reach  Bernay, spending nearly 11 hours in the saddle. The second day saw them cover 77 miles from Bernay to Bayeaux while on the the third day they rode 71 miles to Cherbourg.

The final day was back in the UK cycling the 51 miles from a wet and very busy Poole to Yeovil.

Simon Pearson a SIAB volunteer and Luke Simon the founder of SIAB joined Old Mill on the ride, Luke said: “They made it really good fun. We had a really great cross section from across the company, some quite junior staff right up to one of the firm founders. It was just amazing that we had this group of people that just gelled so unbelievably well.”

P2Y is the second cycling challenge organised by David; last July, nineteen staff took part in the Old Mill Office Cycle Challenge, where staff aimed to raise £5,000 for School in a Bag by cycling the 140 miles between each of Old Mill’s five offices (Melksham, Wells, Yeovil, Dorchester and Exeter) in two days.

They more than tripled their target then, raising £15,500, and David says he is delighted to have been able to organise another successful challenge again this year.

He said: “The challenge was exhilarating, and great fun, the comradery was fantastic. The French countryside and roads were really enjoyable, everyone was so encouraging towards each other, and we also received fantastic support from friends, family and colleagues as well as lots of Old Mill’s customers. Massive thanks much go to our support crew, who were invaluable providing much needed drinks and refreshments, as well as Luke and Simon from SIAB for their fabulous co-ordination for the event”.

“So far we have raised around £7,000, but the sponsorship is still coming and we are very grateful to those who have donated so far”.

To sponsor Old Mill’s P2Y, visit http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=oldmillp2y&isTeam=true

To see photos and posts from the challenge, visit: https://storify.com/OldMillAFP/old-mill-school-in-a-bag-paris-to-yeovil-bike-ride