Charity bike ride exceeds target for Off the Record Bristol

"Tyred", sore but triumphant - Wards Solicitors' hard-pedalling team of cyclists clocked up an impressive 98 miles raising more than £1,000 for Off the Record Bristol (OTR), our charity of the year for 2019, in the process.

The challenging route, uphill and down dale, covered all 11 of the Wards Solicitors' offices starting and finishing at Bradley Stoke and taking in Henleaze, Portishead, Clevedon, Worle, Weston-super-Mare - via Yatton and the Strawberry Line - Nailsea, Bristol, Keynsham and Staple Hill.

With sustaining bacon butties, homemade flapjacks, soup and cake - not to mention copious amounts of tea - provided en-route for the cyclists by other members of staff, the success of the day was truly down to team effort across the whole firm.

Delighted

The fundraising target for the cycle ride was originally set at £1,000, so the team was delighted to exceed this - with gift aid the total now stands at £1,306 with money still coming in.

Wards Solicitors' Partner, James Taylor, who organised the event, says: "Keynsham is henceforth to be known as Cakesham and WSM as Weston Soup-er Mare. We had to get round quick before the firm opens another office - the next Wards tour is likely to be well over 100 miles".

Charity of the year

Off The Record Bristol, an innovative and forward thinking organisation providing mental health support and information to those aged between 11 and 25 in Bristol and South Gloucestershire, was chosen as Wards Solicitors' charity of the year after our 200-plus staff voted 'mental health' and 'children and young people' as the areas on which they wished to focus their fundraising efforts in 2019.

In the coming year, we hope to raise £10,000 for this worthy charity and help it make a difference to even more young people.

Hats off

The Wards Solicitors' riders who completed the full 98-mile route were James Taylor, James Murray, Samantha Hosken and Andrew Wareham. Friends and family members also took part.

Shorter routes were cycled by Sarah Woodward, Katrina Bartlett, Val George and Paul Hayward and fabulous food was provided at various points throughout by Sylvie Feltham, Rebecca Parkman, Ruth Coles and Louise Boustead.