The heat was well and truly on at the weekend – but the fabulous Arkriders once again proved they’ve got what it takes when comes to supporting the Ark Cancer Centre Charity by taking on the Bournemouth Beano – the most recent in a list of cycling challenges.

As well as Beaufort Financial Reading’s own Mark Dolby and Ashley Hull taking part in the Beano, the lead up to the event saw the wider team taking on static bikes in the office. To increase awareness and money raised, the event was sponsored by Beaufort Financial and cyclists all paid their own way to take part – some of the entry fee will be donated to Ark after costs are covered

The Arkriders have now collectively raised more than £185,000 for Ark Cancer Centre Charity’s £5million campaign to help fund a much-needed new NHS cancer treatment centre in Basingstoke.

The group’s big event of 2018 will be a charity dinner at the Apollo Hotel, in Basingstoke, on September 22 – but they couldn’t resist arranging a 2018 cycling reunion.

So it was that cheered on by family and friends, a 36-strong group of Arkriders, including some new recruits, set off from the Apollo Hotel last Saturday (July 14) and piled on the pedal power for 70 miles to Bournemouth, before making the return journey the next day.

While the 2018 event was more of a social and awareness-raising ride, 12 of the cyclists set up individual fundraising pages, and there is a group sponsorship page too – and the response from supporters has been so strong that more than £8,400 has been raised in donations and sponsorship support so far.

Mark Jones, director of fundraising and communications at Ark Cancer Centre Charity, said: This is an amazing achievement by the Arkriders as the Bournemouth Beano took place in energy-sapping heat. There were several new recruits involved in this event and it was a real challenge for the experienced and debut cyclists.

It was very moving to hear some of the personal stories of why individual Arkriders had signed up for this challenge, and all of the riders are to be congratulated on their achievement. Many of them have put in a lot of time and training to make sure they could complete this ride, and it was great to see the level of support that they received.

Particular thanks go to Ark corporate supporter Beaufort Financial, for sponsoring the event, and to Arkriders founder Craig Killick, who was literally a driving force as the main organiser of the event and also one of the support team members.

As well as being delighted with thesupport from well-wishers at the beginning and end of the ride, the Arkriders are grateful for additional support from the Apollo Hotel, Merit Group, Sainsbury’s and Fyffes whose teams all helped out with arranging and providing vital supplies and support facilities for the riders.

All donations to the Beaufort Financial team for this event or to support future fundraising for the Ark Cancer Charity are greatly appreciated and will go a long way to make a real difference. Click here to see our sponsorship page.