Members of The Furniture Makers’ Company are gearing up for a 450-mile bike ride to the French wine capital in September to raise money for the industry’s charity.
Twenty-two people have signed up for the London to Bordeaux cycle ride, which has been organised by Ben Burbidge, master of the company.
The team will enjoy a bon voyage breakfast at the Guildhall, London, which has been sponsored by Fare of London, before setting off at 9am on Sunday 11th September.
Stopping to sample French cuisine and wine along the way, the peloton will cycle around 78 miles a day in order to reach Bordeaux on Friday 16th September.
All of the riders have set themselves a target to raise a minimum of £1000 each. However, around £10,000 has already been raised through a team cycling jersey, which has been sponsored by Axminster Tools & Machinery, B&Q, Blum, the BFM, Burbidge Kitchens, CD UK, Cabinet Maker, Celtheath Contract Furniture, Designer Contracts, Ercol, Furniture Village, KI, Knoll, Lectra, Rotadex, Silentnight and Tangent Furniture.
Master Ben Burbidge says: "This is certainly a very challenging bike ride, but it is for a great cause and one which is very close to all of our hearts. We hope to be waved off by Christine Rigden, one of the Sheriffs of London, and pedal into Bordeaux to a civic reception in the wine-growing capital of France. We would like to thank everyone who has sponsored us so far as we hope to smash our targets.”
The full list of participants are Ben Burbidge, Hayden Davies, Brian Ahern, Michael Ahern, Lee Andrews, Tony Attard, Peter Checketts, Jonathan Hindle, Peter Hooper, John Irwin, Amanda Johnson, Nigel Johnson, Stewart Linford, Graham Marley, Simon Power-Hynes, Andrew Purves, Ian Peers, Nicholas Radford, Edward Tadros, Henry Tadros, Paul von der Heyde and William White.
