On one of the wettest weekends (October 2-3) in recent months, participants in the Flying Angel Ride lined up outside the Island Sailing Club in West Cowes as they prepared to take part in one of three cycling courses around the island.
Spirits were high as teams from across the shipping industry and committed supporters took on the challenge to raise as much money as possible for the Mission as it continues to provide vital welfare services to seafarers in some 230 ports around the world.
First to set off was Mission vice-chairman John Hughes, who took part in the 75-mile course that travelled anti-clockwise around the island covering Yarmouth, Brighstone and Whitwell. He completed the route in approximately six hours and said that the course was challenging but enjoyable.
“Despite the foul weather, we had a fantastic day on the island and we want to say thank you to everyone for their time, effort and commitment,” said the event organiser David Peters. “We were bowled over by the way local businesses welcomed us and went out of their way to help us. The PTA of the Yarmouth Primary School hosted our first refreshment stop and the Co-op provided bananas, energy bars and bottles of water at our stops across the island. We had volunteers who stood for hours in the rain acting as stewards to ensure that our participants were cycling safely and on the right route. We couldn’t have put on the event without this kind of support.”
Teams from across the shipping industry took part in the ride. Teams from Tilbury Container Services, Associated British Ports, A&P Falmouth and C-MAR were just some of the companies represented. The Mission’s chairman, Robert Woods also fielded a team which included several members of his own family.
The ride was supported with generous sponsorship from companies committed to seafarers’ welfare. Classification society ABS provided sponsorship money and saw participants coming all the way from Belgium to take part. The event also benefited from e-money and communications company iVitta whose founder, Simon Black, was the first to return from the 15-mile route from Cowes to Newtown.
In total, 108 people took part in the ride, which hopes to have raised £15,000-£20,000 to benefit seafarers.
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