Contributed article
CYCLES AT THE READY: EDINBURGH M&S STORES PREPARE FOR £1.5M CHARITY CHALLENGE
– M&S Gyle and Kinnaird employees taking part in the Britain’s largest 24 hour endurance event-
Marks & Spencer is gearing up for its biggest fundraising to date, with Edinburgh M&S staff joining over 1,400 M&S colleagues taking part in its BIKE 24 charity cycle challenge on Friday, 21 June 2013.
With the aim of raising £1.5million for five leading charities, M&S employees from its stores and offices across Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are backing the cyclists as they prepare for M&S’s unique fundraising event this summer.
Colleagues from two M&S stores in Edinburgh will be taking part in BIKE 24, a ‘Le Mans’ inspired 24 hour endurance event taking place at Rockingham Motor Racing Circuit in Corby. Employees will compete in teams of four, with a cyclist from each team on the track from 5pm on Friday, 21 June until 5pm on Saturday, 22 June. In addition, 23 experienced solo riders are also competing individually and will stay in the saddle for the whole duration of the challenge.
Each lap of the circuit will help M&S to raise crucial funds in support of its five charity partners: Breakthrough Breast Cancer, Action Medical Research, the Marie Keating Foundation, Action Cancer and Prostate Cancer UK.
The Edinburgh M&S stores employees taking part are:
• Edinburgh Gyle Centre: Bruce Burgess, David Murray, Aaron Michael Spicer, Gavin Neill, Michael Forrest, Kurt Russell, Illesa McClusky, Jennifer Winning, Lauren Victoria Rhodes, Ryan O’Donovan and Steven Food
• Edinburgh Kinnaird: Connor Godsell, Chris Cowan, Derek Kidd, Fraser Nicol, Gayle Christie, Jen Cassidy, Rory Dyer and Michael Scott
In addition – and in further support of the challenge – employees at M&S stores in Edinburgh have begun fundraising efforts by holding a staff bake sale, a sponsored walk and offering bag packing for customers. Other fundraising activities taking place across Edinburgh include quiz nights and staff cycling on exercise bikes in-store.
Aaron Spicer, store manager at M&S Gyle Centre, Edinburgh, said: “Following the success of British cycling last summer, the nation has really taken the sport to its hearts. With more than double the number of participants this year, we’re delighted that our BIKE 24 charity cycle challenge will be bigger and better than ever. That’s why we’ve set an ambitious target to raise £1.5million for these five truly worthwhile charities.
“We’re looking forward to getting behind each of the teams as we take part in a number of fun in-store activities for both staff and customers to help to reach the target.”
BIKE24 is part of the Your M&S Charity Challenge, which will see a host of fundraising activities taking place at all M&S’ UK and Irish stores from the beginning June to the end of August. Customers can donate online via the Virgin Money Giving page, http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/mandscharitychallenge, which contains further information on fundraising taking place across the UK as well as links to sponsor cyclists.
Submitted by Joanna Buggy
