IN July, three solicitors from leading regional law firm Tollers Solicitors set off to ride from London to Paris with the aim to complete the challenge in less than 48 hours, a distance of 300 miles, to raise much needed funds for Cransley Hospice.
It is not common to ride the route in 48 hours. Ordinarily, organisers of London to Paris cycle challenges plan for them to take place over three or even four days, but ‘The Tollers Three Amigos’ were determined to cover the combined 900 miles in this timeframe.
The intrepid cyclists, Roger Reed, a senior associate from the Personal Injury Department; Duncan Nicholson, Managing Partner of the firm; and Tristan Benson, a Partner and Head of the Dispute Resolution Team were more than up for the challenge having trained hard for the last few months, with many lunchtime rides, cycling events and sportifs under their belts.
The ride was 100 per cent funded and planned by the firm so that every single penny raised went to Cransley Hospice. The local hospice, based in Kettering, provides specialist care for patients with life-limiting illnesses and as with many charities of this nature Cransley simply could not operate without the help of donations from the public.
The team were up bright and early to start the ‘Tour De Tollers’ and set off from London’s O2 arena at 5am. The going was good, with only a slight sat-nav problem at the beginning resulting in a few minor delays negotiating their way out of London. They hit Dover at the expected time of 12.30pm. After loading the bikes, they caught a well-earned rest on the ferry crossing over to France, fuelled up and spent time going over the French route. On arrival in Calais they jumped back on their bikes to continue their journey to Hesdin, in Northern France. The weather held fast and the team made good time arriving at 9.45pm and following some refreshments they retired for the night for a well-earned rest after the first day of their mammoth trek.
The following morning the trio were up early to embark on the final 150-mile leg of their journey to Paris. After a hearty breakfast to fuel them on their way, they left Hesdin at 8.10am. The weather on the day was a balmy 31 degrees and despite some issues ensuring they stayed hydrated in the heat, the team made good progress finally arriving at the iconic Arc De Triomphe at 9.30pm.
Having ridden the 300 miles in around 39 hours the team are now taking a well-earned rest before they get back in the saddle. To date, they have raised over £3,800 against their original target of £3,000, with donations continuing to come in. The team are delighted that their efforts will make such a significant contribution to the hospice and the vital support they provide.
Duncan said: “At Tollers we take our corporate responsibility very seriously, we work hard to ensure we are engaged with the local communities we serve and work with a number of locally based charities.”
Roger Reed said of their effort: “We made it to Paris and beat our target! At times when muscles ached and it seemed like we were an awfully long way from home, we put things back into perspective and reminded ourselves of the reason why we were doing the ride. Cransley Hospice provide an invaluable service to the community and the sponsorship we received will help them maintain the highest levels of care and treatment for their patients and their families. We were overwhelmed by people’s generosity and so grateful for all the support we received and would like to express our thanks to everyone who followed our progress, sponsored us and supported us.”
The firm are very proud of the team’s achievement and can’t wait to see what this intrepid trio plan next.
If you would like to show your support, donations can be made via the team’s Just Giving Page at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/roger-reed1
Every donation really will make a difference to the patients of Cransley Hospice.
