More than £5,000 has been raised for Marie Curie Hospice in Solihull by 10 cyclists from McCann Central – the UK’s largest regional integrated communications agency – after completing the Tour de McCann, covering 343 miles during 22 hours in the saddle.
This massive fundraising effort accounts for more than half of the agency’s pledged target for the hospice of more than £7,321 during 2018 – enough to pay for a single day of care as part of the Marie Curie ‘Pay for a Day’ initiative.
To raise the money cyclists from the four McCann Central offices in Birmingham, Bristol, London and Milton Keynes took on a challenging three day road journey that joins up the McCann office locations.
Five riders: Andrew Jerina, James Brittain, James Wilson, Dave Nicholas and John Sanders covered the entire three day-long, 343 mile route, with another six McCann employees joining the intrepid five to support them by carrying equipment as well as completing their own individual days in the saddle.
The Tour de McCann is the latest in a series of sponsored agency events that have taken place so far this year. They have included a cake sale, a world cup sweepstake and a weight loss challenge successfully undertaken by McCann Central CEO, Dean Lovett.
John Sanders, Chief Operating Officer of McCann Central says: “The support we have received from our colleagues, family and friends has been tremendous. All the riders raised their own funds and McCann helped by providing hotel stops and a much-needed support vehicle. There were some fantastic efforts by the team, in fact one of the team – Jim Wood – had never cycled more than 30 miles in his life and still took on 120 miles of the first leg on bike he had never ridden before! We received such a warm welcome when we arrived at each of the McCann offices, it’s great to see that everyone in this company was so supportive.”
The routes were Birmingham to Devizes on Sunday 1st July, stopping into the Bristol office along the way; Devizes to its London office on Monday 2nd July and London back to Birmingham via Milton Keynes on Tuesday 3rd July. Each day entailed at least 100 miles on the roads with a total of over 15,000 feet of climbing.
Dean Lovett, CEO, comments: “The agency has a longstanding commitment to Marie Curie in Solihull since supporting the original hospice build, and this event continues our tradition of innovative fundraising. The Tour de McCann riding team faced a tough physical and mental challenge but I know they feel it was all worth it to raise money for the hospice. We pride ourselves on our sense of teamwork at McCann Central and this is something that was shown by all riders and everyone who greeted and helped them out along the way.”
