A GROUP of local people collectively cycled and ran three times the distance of Frome to Land’s End, to raise money for the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance last weekend.
The fundraising event, which raised an impressive £7,000 thanks to donations from local people, was raising money to support the air ambulance charity after the crew performed life-saving treatment on Mike MacCallam at the Frome Sport and Fitness Gym (Fusion Lifestyle) in August last year following a cardiac arrest.
The challenge saw three groups of family and friends of Mike taking it in turns to cycle and run on a treadmill for eight hours at the leisure centre. The group, who set a target of £3,500 as that is the cost of one call out for the air ambulance team, has thanked all those that took part and those that donated.
They said, “Thanks to the amazing efforts of many amazing people we smashed our targets for our fundraising day. We had an amazing day; a phenomenal 907 miles was cycled or run in the eight hours; this included 665 achieved by everyone taking part in the challenge, cycling or running on machines in the gym, or for a couple of people at home as they weren’t able to make it to the gym on the day. An incredible 238 additional miles were gifted to us in just one hour by the spin cycle class, which took place at the Frome Fusion gym on that morning.
“We had wanted to create a challenge that was a good fit with the gym and with the air ambulance, acknowledging how grateful we are to staff from both services for the lifesaving care and treatment they gave to Mike. As there are air ambulance charities that cover the whole of the south west, we thought a gym-based challenge that went from Frome to Land’s End would be a good fit. As it turns out, we managed to triple this distance and clock up enough miles to get us around the whole South West coast path!
“We have been very touched and are hugely grateful for the support we have received for this event, it was a fantastic team and community effort, the result of which has doubled our fundraising target; the total raised now reaching well over £7,000, with some donations still to come.
“A massive thank you to all family and friends who made this day such an enjoyable, positive, team-spirited experience, and to the manager and staff at Frome Fusion Gym and the fundraising team at Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance who supported us so well to make this happen. “
The online crowd funding page is still active and people can donate by visiting https://shorturl.at/bqM17
