Velvet Junior Bike Race 2009
Some pics of Martha and the competition winners:
Pictured above are Robyn Franklyn [left] and Ben Pentland [right] being presented with their bikes by Mark Nye of ActivCycles, with Peter Scott of SCA and Tyne Valley Cycling Club looking on. Happy Cycling you two! Martha’s going to enjoy that ice cream!
Here’s the press release:
The race is on - get on your
bike to help Martha!
The Velvet Junior Bike Race 2009 in partnership with the annual Northumbrian Water ‘Tour of the Reservoir’ Road Race takes place on Sunday 29 March at Derwent Reservoir.
Once again the thrill and excitement of professional cycle racing will come to Tynedale with over 100 top athletes and Olympic hopefuls from across the UK taking part in the 140km race, staged by the Tyne Valley Cycling Club and located around the scenic banks of the Derwent Reservoir at Blanchland.
For the second year running, SCA Hygiene Products in Prudhoe, makers of the popular ‘Velvet’ brand of family toilet tissue, has joined forces with Northumbrian Water, the official race sponsor. SCA is hosting the annual Velvet Junior Bike Race which runs alongside the adult event.
While the professionals are battling it out for first place on the winner’s podium, SCA hope to attract up to 100 youngsters from across Tynedale to take part in its 1km fun ride along the dam wall to raise money for the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit ‘PICU the Penguin’ Fund at Newcastle Freeman Hospital.
The charity was set up after 3-year-old Martha Anderson from Edmundbyers Village, which is part of the race route, received life-saving treatment on an artificial heart machine before a successful heart transplant in March 2007.
Martha with the huge [in more ways than one!] cheque after last year’s race:
Last year’s junior event attracted over 50 youngsters aged from 4 to 16 years-old and generated over £1000 for the fund. All monies raised from this year’s event will also be donated to help get Martha and her family closer to their £50,000 target to buy another ‘Berlin’ artificial heart machine for the Unit.
This year’s junior event promises to be even bigger and better and will feature the Velvet Children’s Village with a bouncy castle, balloon sculptor and raffle prizes. Each child that enters the race will receive a medal and a Velvet goody bag for taking part.
Children up to the age of 16 years are eligible and children aged 6 years or under must be accompanied by an adult. Each entrant is required to make a £2 charitable donation payable on the day. Junior riders must assemble at Edmundbyers Village Hall between 09:00 and 09:30 am where they can warm up and receive an escort to the start line.
At the finish line, junior riders will be escorted by race marshals to the Velvet Children’s Village. From approximately 12:00 noon onwards, all junior riders and their bikes will transported back to the Village Hall where food and refreshments will be provided.
Parking is available on the B6278 Edmundbyers to Stanhope road with marshals in attendance. The road will close at 10:00 am.
Places are limited and allocated on a first come basis. To enter download an entry form from the official Velvet website at www.velvetbabymd.com and send it to Mike Hodgson, Tyne Valley Cycling Club, Briarwood, Edmundbyers, Co Durham, DH8 9NN. The deadline for posting entries is Monday 23 March for second class post and Wednesday 25 March for first class.
You can also download the form directly from this website by clicking on this link:
Velvet Junior Bike Race Entry Form
What’s PICU? Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, specifically the one at Freeman Hospital Newcastle-upon-Tyne where little Martha Anderson received her life-saving heart surgery. So far the fund has raised £27,000 to go towards new equipment for the Freeman unit so more and better treatment can be offered to youngsters recovering from heart or other serious health problems. Here’s Martha with SCA Prudhoe Mill Manager Tony Richards, whose 3 daughters all participated in the 2008 race, before the race.
The junior race starts as soon as the main race has gone by so the junior riders will be able to share the thrill and excitement of the fabulous senior event and revel in the safe yet competitive atmosphere.
The races are held on Sunday March 29th at around 10:45 so riders are likely to be asked to assemble between 9:30 and 10:15. Resources will include a marquee or possibly two near the finish area with snacks etc, and this year a bus will be laid on to return youngsters and families from the dam wall to the HQ. More details as soon as they’re available.