A team of
EPC-UK, a leading authority in explosives and blasting services, said it was a “inspirational accomplishment.”
Forming a cycle team tagged Bike for Change, EPC-UK employees Ben Coppock, Mathew Whitmore, Ryan Ward and Brian Coultherd embarked on an exhaustive three and a half-day team cycle, with each member covering over 325 miles (523km).
The journey started in London, from where they cycled to Dover for the ferry crossing. Passing through Arras and Compiègne in France, and visiting the Somme, the Bike for Change collective reached the finish line at the Eiffel Tower, Paris, three days later.
The team kept colleagues and loved-ones informed of their progress through live social media updates, and encouraged sponsorship donations through the justgiving website.
Despite the aches, pains and bruises, team member Mathew Whitmore (assistant freight forwarding manager) said the effort was more than worth it:
“The discomfort we all experienced was in aid of an extremely worthy cause, with the ride being a truly life changing experience.
“Thanks to people’s kind donations and generous sponsorships we’ve been able to raise £6,886 [€7,700] for Hand on Heart. It’s the charity EPC-UK has been sponsoring since 2013 and through numerous corporate sporting events and charity drives, we’ve succeeded in raising over £18,000 [€20,000] to date.”
Zoe Lancaster, an organiser of the bike ride, said: “What can we say about the EPC-UK team but wow. They were such fun, up for anything and helped me out no end with keeping morale high: at every turn we had an EPC-UK cycling jersey catching us up.
“They have become good friends with many people and we truly hope to keep in touch with them.”
Committed to continually reducing the number of young people who die because of sudden cardiac arrest year on year, Hand on Heart has raised funds to enable over 800 defibrillator packages to be installed in schools and communities across the UK, and in the region of 5,000 staff to be trained in how to use them.
The charity, which started operating as a campaign in March 2010, has also taught over 17,000 children how to perform basic life support.
“Hand on Heart is doing a superb job of educating schools across the country about the life-saving importance of having a defibrillator on the premises,” Mathew continues.
“It’s our hope that the money we’ve raised will help to create more Heart Safe communities, and that youngsters with heart conditions that are often undiagnosed, have the best chance of survival though lifesaving equipment and training.”
