Cyclists pedalled for purpose during the first major sports event in the region since the pandemic began on Sunday 4th July.
After over a year of enforced limited social contact, strict regulations resulting in a detrimental impact on many people’s wellbeing; the organisers of the historic LCL (Liverpool-Chester-Liverpool) event pushed through with the community bike ride Sunday 4th July 2021.
Making it one of the first mass participation sporting events (outside of pilot events) to take place in the UK since restrictions were put in place in March 2020.
Riders raised a whopping £72,000+ for local causes and enjoyed the new festival village, hosted by partners Exchange Flags within their ‘Summer on the Square’ event.
This year’s headline charity status was given to local charity The Bobby Colleran Trust who recently announced the launch of its ‘Take Care for Bobby’ campaign to support the mental health of children and young people in the Liverpool City Region.
The Trust has provided mental health and bereavement support to children alongside its well-known ‘Slow Down for Bobby’ road safety campaign since 2014, when 6-year-old Bobby Colleran was killed in a road accident. Following the Covid19 pandemic, Take Care for Bobby was launched to deliver a range of therapies in schools, improve the understanding of mental health for children, young people and care givers as well as providing bite-size tips and tools for mental health caretaking within its specially-created programme.
The mass participation bike ride raised an incredible £42,000+ towards the opening of its own wellbeing centre for children and young people in Liverpool as part of the next phase in the Take Care for Bobby campaign.
Joanne Colleran, founder of The Bobby Colleran Trust (Bobby’s mother) said
“This is such an exciting opportunity for people to support us whilst supporting their own physical and mental wellbeing. It is our mission to see the ‘Take Care for Bobby’ mental health programme rolled out across every school in the region and we’re urging as many people as possible to help us raise vital funds that will go directly to improving the mental health of local children and young people.”
Other charities that benefitted from the event were North West Air Ambulance, St Paul’s Eye Unit and Cycling Projects and a staggering £8,700+ in total has been raised to date.
The event was supported by Huyton Asphalt and sister company Huyton Asphalt Civils, as part of their longstanding commitment to community engagement, sustainability, and environmental awareness.
The group of businesses vowed to support the LCL Bike ride and The Bobby Colleran Trust in their mission to tackle the child mental health crisis that has accelerated over the past year of lockdowns. In support of the impact of exercise on wellbeing, Huyton Asphalt also facilitated free places for all under 15’s wanting to participate.
James Blennerhassett, Founder & Managing Director, Huyton Asphalt said
“After a tough year for everyone, we were thrilled to support the LCL Bike Race and give people the opportunity to reunite with our roads, get on their bikes and support an incredible charity.”
HA Civils’ Managing Director, Tony Carney added
“Giving back to the communities we serve is part of our DNA as a business and we have supported The Bobby Colleran Trust from the beginning of their journey. As the country prepares to reopen, we are proud to connect our highways with health and wellbeing – from Liverpool to Chester and back again!”
JustGiving to donate and fundraise for The Bobby Colleran Trust.
Other partners include Merseytravel, Exchange Flags, NCP, Halfords, The Guide Liverpool and Countess of Chester Park.
EDITOR NOTES
Contact:
Alissa Koopal
CEO
0752 879 4496
Interviews available on request:
Joanne Colleran, mother and founder of The Bobby Colleran Trust
Alissa Koopal, CEO of Pennine Events Ltd,
James Blennerhassett, founder & managing director, Huyton Asphalt
Tony Carney, Managing director, HA Civils.
In January 2021, The Lancet reported the incidence of mental health problems in 5–16 year olds in England, as rising from 10·8% in 2017 to 16·0% in July 2020 with more than a quarter of children (aged 5–16 years) and young people (aged 17–22) reporting disrupted sleep and one in ten (5·4% of children and 13·8% of young people) describing they often or always felt lonely.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(20)30570-8/fulltext
Liverpool Chester Liverpool (LCL Bike ride)
www.liverpoolchesterliverpool.com
LCL – The Liverpool-Chester-Liverpool bike ride is a non-competitive ride for all abilities and levels with the unique opportunity to ride traffic free through the Queensway tunnel.
The routes ranges from a 5M family tunnel ride, through to a 100M sportive.
It promotes wellbeing, community engagement and healthy living through cycling.
Riders have included stardust such as Beth Tweddle and Rik Waddon.
The event is in its 28th consecutive year. The organisers (Pennine Events Ltd), are leaders in their field, having delivered stages of The Tour de France, UCI events, and are set to deliver a stage for the world-renowned Women’s Tour of Britain later this year.
https://www.facebook.com/liverpoolchester
https://www.instagram.com/lclbikeride/
https://twitter.com/LCLBikeRide
Simon O’Brien, LCR’s Cycling and Walking commissioner, and LCL ambassador says:
“The LCL Bike ride is part of the fabric of the region and such as key event for the community every single year. Liverpool City Region is truly jumping into action to get active travel right to the top of the agenda.”
The Bobby Colleran Trust
https://thebobbycollerantrust.org.uk/
In October 2014 following the death of 6 year old Bobby Colleran in a tragic road accident The Bobby Colleran Trust was established. Primarily the trust was set-up to bring awareness of ‘Road Safety’ to drivers, parents and children and ultimately help to prevent further loss of life in the vicinity of schools and other busy roads in and around the Liverpool City Region.
The Trust offers a variety of services including: The development of Bobby Zones, Delivery of school assemblies on Road Safety for Children, Advice and support for schools to obtain relevant safety measures, Free Hi Viz vests for school children, Mental health and bereavement support for children.
https://www.facebook.com/slowdownforbobby
https://twitter.com/slowdown4bobby
Huyton Asphalt
Huyton Asphalt celebrated 50 years in business in 2020. A family run company where many generations of families have and continue to work together on site, the business is not your average construction company.
Operating nationally from their Head office in St Helens, the company are innovators in their field of surfacing – managing high profile projects for Highways England, local authorities and private companies.
Both Huyton Asphalt and HA Civils have a commitment to supporting the community that is a part of their corporate DNA. From thousands of pounds of donations to charity, through work in kind through to engagement in schools – Huyton Asphalt give back.
https://www.linkedin.com/company/huyton-asphalt-ltd/
www.facebook.com/HuytonAsphalt/
www.twitter.com/huytonasphalt?lang=en
Huyton Asphalt Civils
HA Civils celebrated its 5th year in business last year.
Part of the Huyton Asphalt family of businesses, HA Civils is a Civil Engineering company that manages high profile projects for local authorities and private contractors nationwide.
Specialising in collaborative and modern concepts, HA Civils is an industry leader for innovation and excellence, building sustainable communities safely.