834.00 p (-11.00) 
Heroic Unite Students cycling team complete challenge – 29 March 2016
10 November 2016
The team also included adventurer Jamie McDonald who holds the Guinness world record for marathon static cycling. They celebrated their achievement with a mass static bike ride on London’s South Bank which attracted huge numbers of passers-by to take part and also donate to our fundraising effort for Sport Relief.
During the journey the team endured some very difficult conditions including rain, hail, sleet, snow and storm force winds which caused considerable physical and mental hardships.
The challenge also took a surreal turn when the team even hit the headlines after rescuing a woman trapped for four hours in her van. Gemma Lloyd had become trapped in her van for 4 hours on the Devon/Cornwall border before the team who happened to be passing heard her cries and rescued her from her ordeal.
The team set off from John O’Groats on 27 February and their challenge was one of a series of events organised by Unite Students which provides a home to over 46,000 students in purpose-built properties across Scotland and England.
Static bike challenges were also held in 24 cities, giving students a chance to help raise money for Sport Relief.
After completing the challenge Unite Students’ Finance Manager Louise Slade commented:
“When we signed up to take on the challenge we knew it would be difficult but nothing quite prepared us for the physical and mental effort that would be required.
“The snow, rain and seemingly endless punctures meant that for much of the journey we were wet and cold, but the strong bond which developed between the team ensured that no one was left behind and everyone finished each day.
“We’re very grateful to family, friends and colleagues for their support and also to Unite Students for the opportunity. We’ve exceeded our fundraising goal for Sport Relief but would be grateful to anyone who wants to contribute now to raise even more for this great charity that does so much to help those who have so little.”
The public can still donate to the team’s efforts by visiting their Just Giving Page.
Unite Students Chief Executive Mark Allan said:
“Sport Relief is one of the UK’s best loved charities and we wanted to help our 46,000 students get behind it so we organised a host of opportunities for them and other students. We wanted as many students across the UK as possible to get active and get involved to help raise as much money as possible for this.”
Cassie Emanuel, Fundraising Manager at Comic Relief concluded:
“We are delighted that Unite Students took on such an amazing challenge for Sport Relief. They are helping to give extremely vulnerable and disadvantaged people in the UK and across the world’s poorest communities a helping hand to turn their lives around. If anyone is inspired by Unite Student’s extraordinary efforts they can head to sportrelief.com to get involved.
