A BIG thank you to all the riders who have raised sponsorship
in this our tenth year. It has been a record year for the help we have been able to give to the charities.
£60,000 was the total money raised by the riders and the event this year, and this was presented to the charities
as follows:
We had two riders who raised over £5,000 each, and 25 individuals who raised over £500 each.
And we had fantastic contributions from a number of teams that made a big effort,
some of whom have continually supported us over the years.
The 3 people who have received a prize for their outstanding fundraising effort are
Martin Whittle (Preston)
and Patrick Walker (Otley), who each raised
over £5,000,
and Gary McIlraith (Warrington Tri),
who collected £3,254.
We cannot believe the effort that the riders put in on the fund raising - in these times it is
probably harder than doing the ride itself! - but it is all worthwhile in the end.
We will continue with our fund raising and hope the next ten years will be as successful as the last.
Thanks again, Lofty
10th Anniversary Dinner
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The 2009 event was the 10th Fred Whitton Challenge, so to celebrate we held a special
Fred Whitton anniversary dinner on October 10th, at the Castle Green Hotel in Kendal
(the cost all covered by the ticket price).
The guest speakers were the legendary Stephen Roche, who famously won the Giro, Tour de France
and world championship all in the same year, and North West cycling star Ella Sadler-Andrews,
who recently won a Junior Women's Team Pursuit gold medal at the European Track Championships,
plus the 'double act' of Keith Lambert and Sid Barras, representing the Dave Rayner Fund.
The Fred Whitton Challenge raises a huge amount of money for good causes,
the two main beneficiaries being
Macmillan Cancer Support and
the Dave Rayner Fund.
Stephen Roche and Ella Sadler-Andrews did the honours and presented cheques of £22,500 each to
these two main charities, and a further £5,000 was presented to the
North West Air Ambulance
and the Duddon & Furness Mountain Rescue Team,
both of whom have provided invaluable support to the event.
Lakes Road Club rider Tony Danson was a brilliant master of ceremonies at the dinner,
and interviewed the guests of honour in a unique style - pure comedy and worth the
ticket price alone. ‘Dano’ even managed to convince Stephen Roche that his career
would benefit from riding the ‘Fred’, and Roche agreed to consider it!
This one off anniversary dinner gave event organiser Paul Loftus the chance to thank
the many people who make the Fred Whitton such a special event in the cycling calendar.
Photos from the dinner are available from Kennedy Images.
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Stephen Roche at the dinner
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