24 Hour Cycle Raises £2,000 For Childrens' Cancer Charity

Staff and students at Callington Community College cycled over 4000km in 24hours to raise money for CLIC Sargent.

Mrs Day, Mrs Davey and Kate Bourn cycled for the full 24 hours, with three Year 11 students  joining them for the full six hours of the school day, with staff, family and friends helping throughout the challenge.  Several local companies supported the challenge by loaning equipment - Ginsters loaned ten spinning bikes, Certini Cycles, Callington Cycles and Geoff Samuels loaned turbo trainers and donated bike computers so that the distances cycled could be monitored.

The challenge was masterminded by Mrs Day, to raise money for a charity that is currently helping a member of her family, 8 year old Billy. The girls cycled continuously for 7 hours before changing to cycling for an hour then having 20 minutes off.  During the night the stints on the bike were shortened to 30 minutes followed by a 15 minute break.   Family and friends came to cycle with the girls right up until midnight, then they were on their own until staff started to arrive again at 6am. 

Every hour the total collective distance covered was totalled up and recorded, with the final total being a massive 4017km, the equivalent to cycling around Cornwall 8 times!!

Anyone could join in and add kilometres to the total distance travelled, paying 50p a go.  Various competitions were also run to raise money, guess the number of sweets in a jar, guess the total distance cycled, as well as a raffle.  The students at Callington Community College are also having a non-uniform day after the Easter holidays which will raise further funds for the charity.

Mrs Day said: This challenge meant a lot to me personally, and the support we received during our challenge was phenomenal - more than we could ever have imagined!  Cycling through the night was tough, especially as we were battling with the general discomfort of being sat on a bike for so long, but we kept going, and when people started arriving in the morning to cycle with us it really spurred us on.

Staff and students packed into the Dance Studio where the girls were cycling to support them during the last few minutes of the challenge, which proved to be very emotional for all those taking part.

The challenge raised in excess of £2,000, all of which will go to CLIC Sargent.