Students from the University of Southampton Road Cycling Club have completed a fundraiser for Nepal, raising over £1,800 for the relief fund.
The SURC members who took part in the challenge
The event took place on the Redbrick, starting at 12pm last Friday and going on until 12pm on Sunday, with a team of cyclists from the club covering an impressive 8848km over the 48 hour period.
It was the distance from Southampton to Kathmandu, a gesture of solidarity to the victims of the devastating earthquake which struck Nepal in late April.
Bad weather temporarily drove the team inside, but they battled on
The Tab got in touch with the SURC President Becky Bellworthy to find out more about the event.
This idea came about after I lost three friends in the earthquake, and I know many more whose homes were destroyed. I’m not ashamed to admit that I cried when we finished due to a mixture of emotions. It brought back the memories of the friends I lost, but I was so proud of what we had achieved and astounded that we had managed to do it!
The team used a map to track their progress on their epic journey
It was seriously tough. I nearly broke at many points during the two nights, but I reminded myself how lucky we were to have basic shelter, fresh water and food, and that my suffering was so minimal and temporary compared to that of the people in Nepal.
Many people responded to our pleas for help to get us to our target and put in some impressive efforts on the rollers. The new committee, whom I sprung this on a couple of weeks ago, have all made a huge effort to pull this event off. I am immensely proud and grateful to all those who contributed, be it the club members who rode and organised, or the strangers who offered us some great support and generous donations.
The team raised £499.12 in the collection buckets and a further £1,348 on their Just Giving page, adding up to a total of almost two grand.
If you missed SURC’s fundraiser but want to donate to the Nepal Relief Fund, the UNICEF website can be found here. Want to get involved with the club and their future fundraisers? Become a member here.
