On Saturday 2nd July, over 80 riders set out from Goostrey (near Knutsford) after delicious hot breakfast baps and a warm up, to begin their 100-mile challenge around the beautiful country lanes of Cheshire.
They had a long distance to cover before the end of the day, including some considerable hills to climb, but we rightly so had every confidence in them!
The peak of the ride was the Cat and Fiddle, the riders then returned via The Joshua Tree’s new centre in Sandiway and headed back to Goostrey for a much needed refreshment and BBQ in the evening.
We are so proud to have been supported by Rolls-Royce Manchester who provided four Cullinans, one to lead each group of riders and carry important supplies (sweets galore!).
Many local businesses and great companies donated water, snacks, sun cream, bars and other much needed essentials for the riders.
So far the riders have raised over £35,000 and the total amount is still climbing! The funds will all be donated directly to The Joshua Tree, a charity based in Northwich, Cheshire - that supports families affected by childhood cancers across the North West of England and North Wales.
Catriona Marshall, founder of Transforming Lives Charity, who organises the annual event said ‘We all know how tough the last couple of years have been for charities and we’re so keen to help, The Joshua Tree provide crucial emotional and wellbeing support to children and their families at diagnosis and beyond. This is very much a community event, supported by local businesses who are keen to help raise funds. 100% of donations raised by the riders will go to the charity. We’ve raised over £270,000 for charity since we started The Cheshire Dash in 2018’.
Rich Driffield (CEO of The Joshua Tree) said, ‘A massive thank you to the incredible people who took on the 100 mile Cheshire Dash challenge, and to all the supporters for cheering the riders on and to everyone who has donated so far. This year, we have already received over 50 new referrals from families across Cheshire, North West England and North Wales and all the funds raised will make a huge difference to our charity and to the lives of families affected by childhood cancers. It was a brilliant event, and we can't thank Mike & Cat, and the teams from Transforming Lives and Running Bear enough for supporting The Joshua Tree’.
Check out our 2022 gallery to see what the Dashers got up to!
