For Russell Hobby, it was a proud moment to watch over 220 students who are involved with the charity complete the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 46.

The Brighton native and chief executive of Teach First saw representatives from 19 schools that they work with ride in Prudential RideLondon, which loops through the streets of London and out into Surrey, before heading back into the capital and finishing on the Mall.

Teach First is part of the PruGOals programme, which is working with 500 youngsters aged 16-18 to build their confidence and encourage personal motivation.

And Hobby was keen to praise the achievements of the impressive collective of riders on the day.

“PruGOals is special because it gives an opportunity to students, some of them to get on the bike for the first time and achieve something magnificent,” he said.

“It’s a great opportunity for them and us as a charity. Some of these students didn’t have a bike before they started training for this, and I think to then go and be able to do 46 miles and prove to themselves that they can tackle any obstacle, that’s a good thing.

“It helps with the relationship that we have. At Teach First we find teachers as well to go and work in these schools, so many of our trainee teachers are leading these groups.”

Yet Hobby himself managed to raise over £1,000 in completing the ride race, not that – as he conceded – it proved an easy task. 
“I’m really pleased,” he continued.

“It’s hard work, I’m feeling a little numb now, but I’ve got to the end of the finish line, and there’s loads of the PruGOals students coming in too.

“There was a lot of rain in the face, and it’s a bit muddy as well, but actually it went smoother than I’d feared!”

Prudential’s PruGOals programme is run in partnership with charity partners Greenhouse Sports, Transformation Trust, Centre Point and the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust.

The role of the partnership is to empower young people to realise their ambitions and fulfil their potential regardless of social or economic background.

“We’ve been working together for a couple of years now,” added Hobby.

“We work in schools that are serving some of the most challenging communities in the country, PruGOals is trying to give opportunities to those students as well, so we’ve been trying to get a couple of our partner schools together and we’ve got a couple of hundred students now.”

“Prudential RideLondon is special because it gives an opportunity to students, some of them to get on the bike for the first time and achieve something magnificent.”

PruGOals is an initiative set up by Prudential to empower young people to drive their ambitions and fulfil their potential regardless of social or economic background. For more information, visit prugoals.co.uk