Companies’ pedal power raises thousands for Wiltshire Air Ambulance

• Swindon and Wiltshire Community Champions
• Monday, July 22, 2024
• Author Name: Peter Davison

Members of a popular business networking group, along with some of their friends, got on their bikes for charity, speeding through a 100-mile cycle and smashing their fundraising target.

The team from Aspire Networking – which has branches in Swindon and Cirencester – cycled a circular route starting and finishing at Stratton House Hotel, Cirencester, with the aim of raising at least £5,000 for Wiltshire Air Ambulance.

It took seven hours of solid cycling to complete the challenge, stopping for lunch midway at the WAA HQ in Semington before returning to Cirencester.

Nigel Pursall, founder of Aspire and director of Orange Stripe Telecom, said they want to go all out to support Wiltshire Air Ambulance, which needs £4.5m a year to continue saving lives and relies on donations public. It is not directly funded by the government and does not receive funding from the National Lottery.

“When Naomi Barker from WAA joined the Aspire Swindon group in February this year, taking on the charity’s place, we knew very quickly what a fantastic service they represent and wanted to do something to support it,” said Nigel.

“The trip went without a hitch or a hitch. The weather was brilliant and our support team of about eight people and support vehicles were superb.

“My wife Dawn and her team were having lunch when we arrived at WAA Semington. Justin Dowling parked his black beast of a truck across intersections so we could go without stopping.”

The Aspire team included Paula Dagnall, who runs Swindon Design & Development, sports and clinical therapist Nick White and Mike Land, from Nickel Design.

Mike also plans to support Wiltshire Air Ambulance by attempting to break the world record for how far a van can be pulled in 24 hours.

He said: “It was a great day, the trip was amazing and we are now looking to make this an annual event for Aspire.”

Team Aspire are still fundraising, hoping to increase their sponsorship as much as possible. Their total now stands at over £6,300. To sponsor them, visit https://www.justgiving.com/team/justgiving-aspire-100.