SEVEN businessmen got on their bikes to raise £10,000 to help St Rocco’s.

The group took part in the Ride London cycling challenge in July on one of the wettest days of the summer.

Rob Foden, Carl Palmer, Chris Downey, Norman Tarbuck, Julian Parrington, Ben Dawbarn, Daniel Foden and Paul Dixon took part in the race along with 30,000 others.

A mixture of experienced cyclists and Ride London first timers, the group kept going through punctures, cake stops, steep hills and a diversion on the route due to excessive standing water.

The rain finally eased in time for the final section through central London which was lined with well-wishers and supporters.

“The cheers and encouragement is always one of the best parts of any ride of this sort and all of us made it round in one piece, along with 30,000 other riders,” said Paul.

Katie Lawson, community fundraiser at St Rocco’s said: “This was a brilliant effort by all of the team.

“We know they were training hard and they’ve raised a fantastic amount to help us to continue to look after those in the Warrington community who need us.

“Having people to take on these kind of challenges to support us makes a huge difference; as a local charity, we rely on our community to help raise more than 75 per cent of the £3.6 million a year it costs for us to keep going, so we’d like to say a big thank you to our Ride London team.”

  •  If you’re thinking of taking on a sporting challenge and would like to fundraise for St. Rocco’s at the same time, email fundraising@stroccos.org.uk or call 575780.