75-Miles for St Ann’s

Keen cyclist, Alan Dupre, has raised £1,596.10 for St Ann’s after taking on a 75-mile cycling challenge, ending in the Peak District.  

Alan, 49, who lives in Gatley took on the challenge following the impact of Covid-19 on charities across the UK. While he has never had any personal experience of our services, he has had friends who have links to the hospice.  

Alan said: “I know that all charities have been badly hit by funding and although I’ve not had any personal experience of a relative using St Ann’s, I know those who have and they cannot speak highly enough of the care received.”  

Before the challenge, Alan had raised £750 plus gift aid, but this number quickly grew with ‘on the road’ donations with Alan collecting £48.05 on his bike ride. The donations were also doubled by Alan’s employer, insurance company CHUBB, who pledged to match funds up to £1,000 for the challenge.  

The challenge took around nine hours to complete, due to one puncture and lots of people stopping to donate and ask about his bike – the Elliptigo, a specialist stand up bike with no seat which has a motion similar to a cross-trainer, one of around 300 in the UK. Throughout the trip, Alan proudly wore a St Ann’s t-shirt that attracted many supporters, some even stopping their cars to donate.  

Alan went on to say: “I wanted this to be a tough challenge and at the end I was absolutely shattered but the weather was incredibly good, which made the ride really enjoyable.”  

At the end of the challenge, Alan was welcomed by local bar in Gatley, Babita, who had helped with promoting his ride, enjoying pizza and drinks to celebrate.