Cyclists team up with Olympic stars for charity ride

Forty seven riders hopped on their bikes from Royal Bank of Canada’s (RBC) headquarters in central London and set off to Bruges, via Holland, in aid of SportsAid for RBC Ride for the Kids.

The team, largely made up of RBC employees, collectively clocked up more than 8,600 miles with more than £60,000 raised from the challenge.

SportsAid give financial assistance to the stars of tomorrow in their quest to become the next Olympic and Paralympic champions.

Ambassadors for the charity, Paralympic 800m champion Danny Crates, double Olympic silver medal canoeist Richard Hounslow and rower Jess Eddie, who claimed silver in Rio as part of the women’s eight, also joined the riders on their quest.

“It was really good fun – all the riders were pushing each other along. It’s been 21 years since I received a grant from SportsAid and when you’re quite young, sport is expensive and you rely on the bank of mum and dad,” said Hounslow.

“Any help is very welcome and SportsAid do such a fantastic job of distributing the money to athletes that are up and coming, especially those in need of that money.

“RBC Ride for the Kids is such a fantastic event – helping those young athletes not just to dream about achieving their goals but to actually have the opportunity to go out there and live their dreams – I was lucky enough to do that and it all started from the SportsAid foundation.”

RBC have partnered with SportsAid since 2014 and have now raised nearly £400,000 for the charity. Annually, RBC supports 50 young athletes with financial grants, a buddy programme, BFI movie nights and presentation workshops on The Old Vic stage.

Desiree Clarke-Noble, managing director, head of brand and marketing, Europe and Asia-Pacific at RBC Capital Markets said: “This was about an epic challenge – the riders headed out from our London office taking on a 184-mile, two-day cycling event from there to Bruges, all in aid of SportsAid.

“Our SportsAid partnership started in 2014 and it’s grown year on year, it’s a crucial partnership for us, they may only be a small charity but the impact they make is enormous.

“Each year we think of different ways to add to the partnership and support SportsAid so they can in turn support more athletes.

“We’re really pleased that some of our current athletes and alumni are actually Olympic and Paralympic champions already, so that shows we’re really backing the best.”

The ride also marked the launch of the #MyMiles challenge, which takes place during  SportsAid Week this September, and encourages people to log how many miles they’ve clocked up while exercising through social media.

The challenge is designed to shine a spotlight on the country’s brightest sporting prospects and the training they undertake, day after day, to reach the top. On average, a SportsAid athlete covers over 43 miles under their own steam every week.

The charity’s chief executive, Tim Lawler, hopes the ride will be the catalyst for a record-breaking SportsAid Week and that RBC Ride for the Kids becomes an annual flagship event.

“It’s been amazing. This is probably a key moment in our partnership,” he said.

“RBC Ride for the Kids is such a special event in SportsAid’s calendar, it’s becoming what we hope will be a signature event for SportsAid, something everybody queues up to be part of. And it directly connects participants to helping young athletes - that’s quite difficult to do in charitable causes.

“Collectively, all these riders have clocked up over 8,600 My Miles, which is already bigger than our launch last year and sets us off on a fantastic footing.”

Royal Bank of Canada, one of the largest banks in the world and Canada’s largest bank by market capitalization, partners with SportsAid to provide annual financial support, ongoing mentoring and deserved recognition to 50 young talented British athletes looking to fulfil their sporting ambitions. For more information, please visit https://www.rbccm.com/europe/