'Up & Down' Charity Ride
13-19th September 2009
in aid of "Child Victims of Crime"
Background
Greg Miller, serving Avon and Somerset officer and Chapter member became aware of “Child Victims of Crime”, the only Police children’s charity, which provides assistance to children and their families who have been directly affected by serious crime. He realised that not only did the majority of the general public have no knowledge of this charity but indeed many Police Officers had not heard of it. This mattered because the charity relies on referrals from Police Officers. Greg decided he would do something both to raise awareness of the CVOC and also raise funds for its benefit. He formed the idea of a sponsored motorcycle ride from Lands End to John O’Groats, discussed it with his friend and fellow Officer Adrian Peck, shared the idea with England XIV President John Cooke and Treasurer Muddy Waters and the plan took shape.
Progress
A team of riders and supporters was formed and consisted of riders Greg Miller, Adrian Peck, John Cooke, Muddy Waters with the support vehicle containing Pat Sturman, Wayne Hughes and Amanda Keylock. Meetings were held to organise the way forward. An enormous amount of hard work was put in by the organisers and sponsors began to be encouraged to join in. Greg appeared to have the magic touch in this area. BMW agreed to provide motorcycles and a support car, being enormously enthusiastic throughout. BWOC a considerable contribution to fuel costs, the AA would insure the car and Carole Nash the motorcycles, Premier Inns would provide overnight accommodation, Fowlers of Bristol would supply motorcycle gear, Telent vehicle to vehicle radio gear, Trackaphone satellite tracking on the vehicles via Blackberries and Oxford Equipment security chains for the bikes at overnight stops. As the planning progressed, a further sponsor RuRoc, run by Rob Gavin provided invaluable support in a variety of ways that will be mentioned later but initially consisting of photography of the event en-route including a video record. Robs business makes the helmets worn by many Formula 1 car racing teams pit crews and he was able to negotiate the riders helmets at substantially less than originally thought. Rob was himself a keen motorcyclist and proved so enthusiastic about the event he became a fifth team rider.
Upon completion of the ride it was planned to hold a charity auction, quickly dubbed our “Charity Knight” and the Bristol Marriott hotel agreed to help, with venue, buffet, and rooms at a preferential rate. Dreweatts Auctioneers would run our auction, brilliant covers band Trouble and Strife would appear and waive their fee, as did new Chapter member Charlie Han, with his disco. Eyecatchers Photography agreed to photograph elements of the event and also provide a presence at the Charity Knight to provide professional photos of those present and make a donation to the cause. Many celebrities were approached with a view to their possible attendance as an extra boost for ticket sales and at quite a late stage, Stavros Flatley of Britains Got Talent fame agreed to attend and also to waive his usual fee. Ticket sales soared and proved to be a sell-out with the 400 seats quickly filled. Much background work was done with the media to publicise the event and bucket-collections manned by team members were successful at Cribbs Causeway, within Avon and Somerset HQ, Weston Morrisons and Bristol Harbour Festival, where Greg made a valuable contact with the BBC presenter Alex Lovell. Dozens if not hundreds of written appeals were made to businesses and individuals in an attempt to obtain items for the Charity Auction and many items were eventually donated, varying widely, including signed football and rugby shirts, steam train driving, a visit to Chelsea football club, a visit to Prodrive racing, an Aston Martin circuit drive, social event assistance from Butlers in the Buff and, via our new team member and sponsor Rob Gavin, visits to the Brawn and Force India Formula 1 teams with replica pit crew helmets. Further helmets were also donated and appeared in a “Silent Auction” running alongside the main one by Dreweatts. A raffle of lesser items was also planned.
The team had no idea how much they might raise but a target figure of £6000 was set, the members not really knowing if this was realistic.
Much work was done to promote the event on the England XIV website by President Cookie, a computer fiend. Donations could be made on-line via the secure “Justgiving” site. Progress was documented and a blog was planned to chart the ride progress in addition to ride location plotting via the Trackaphone facility.
Frantic last minute preparations were completed. The team lost one member as Wayne Hughes, a serving Officer acting as support driver and medic was required for a Crown Court appearance. Five BMW 1200GS bikes, used before only for the London Marathon and an X5 4x4 car were delivered from BMW. The car was liveried up in sponsors stickers. Radios, Trackerphones and bike kit were obtained. The team manned a stand at the Police Fleet Managers Exhibition at Cheltenham racecourse, exhibiting their vehicles and met BMW staff responsible for the enormous support given.
The Event
Sunday 13th September 2009
The team meet at Weston Super Mare Road Policing Unit at 1400 and collect their vehicles, pack the X5 with kit and say goodbye to families. Where Wayne would have sat in the X5 had he been able to participate as planned is a mystery as the back seat had to be dropped to accommodate all of the gear! Off to Avon and Somerset HQ where we were met by Simon Anderson on his trike. Much to Robs surprise, Cookie announced that he had been accepted as an Honarary Member of England XIV and presented him with his membership certificate and badge. To say Rob was stunned was an understatement. Pat and Amanda were still struggling to come to terms with all the X5s bells and whistles. Things would become clearer with time! Pats age and memory let him down at this stage as he realised he had left his specs and mobile phone with Carole in her car but thankfully she was still relatively local and the team met up with her at Cullompton Services, M5 where the items were retrieved. A visiting AA patrolman, Joshua Jones and his van took part in a photocall, much to his surprise, as the AA were one of our sponsors. Onwards then to the Premier Inn, Hayle, Cornwall for our first overnight stop, to be met by member Kev Yates and Caroline, Stuart Morrissey aka MadRider, Deadhead Dave and Scout, Eddy, Claire, Ed, Bounce and Twizzel. Thanks for taking the trouble to turn out.