Member Article

Round Rowlands charity bike ride

Six keen cyclists from Rowlands Accountants have covered almost 200 gruelling miles in just two days to raise money for local charities that help children and their families in the area.

The six – David Nairn from Durham, Andrew Little from Morpeth, John White from Wigton in Cumbria, Andrew Wimhurst from Washington, Peter Ledgerwood from Newcastle and Dean Lamb from Murton – cycled the length and breadth of the region and their efforts were rewarded as they raised more than £5,000 on behalf of Henry Dancer Days and The Daisy Chain Project.

The challenge – dubbed the “Round Rowlands Charity Bike Ride” – saw the team visit each of the firm’s offices across the region. The challenge started at the Angel of the North, adjacent to the firm’s Birtley office and took in Sunderland, Yarm and Crook before day one ended in Durham. The team visited Hexham and Ponteland on day two before heading back to Birtley via Newcastle to complete the mammoth task.

Newly appointed partner, Andrew Little has undertaken two previous charity rides in the last two years; one from John O’Groats to Lindisfarne and the other from Lands End to Lindisfarne and was aware of the scale of the challenge that faced the team. He said: “We really do cover a large footprint in the North East incorporating County Durham, Tyne & Wear, Teesside and Northumberland. To cover the area, which is largely off-road, in just two days and the unusual heat took some doing.”

The money raised through the “Round Rowlands Charity Bike Ride” is supporting Lanchester-based Henry Dancer Days and The Daisy Chain Project which is based in Norton, Stockton-on-Tees.

Henry Dancer Days was set up in 2011 by Jane and Gary Nattrass in memory of their son Henry, who was diagnosed and died three years ago from a particularly aggressive form of cancer called Osteosarcoma, to support families in a similar situation. The charity helps arrange and fund days out for families whose children are being treated for Osteosarcoma, which is the most common type of bone cancer and the sixth most common type of cancer in children.

Jane Nattrass from Henry Dancer Days said; “We are very grateful to Rowlands for the support that they are giving to Henry Dancer Days. The money raised will help support more families at a very difficult time whilst their children are being treated for cancer.”

The Daisy Chain Project (www.daisychainproject.co.uk) is the other charity which will benefit from the tremendous efforts of the Rowlands team. The charity, which was established in 2003, provides a range of services including support and activity groups to help families with a child affected by autism.

Team member David Nairn, partner at Rowlands added; “It was a tough challenge but one which we all thoroughly enjoyed tackling. We managed to see the best of what our region has to offer but most importantly we raised an impressive amount of money for two well deserving charities that play an important role in helping children and their families in the local community.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Astute.Work .