DID you know that it costs £504 to provide one day’s expert, specialist care for one patient in the inpatient unit at Northamptonshire’s Cynthia Spencer Hospice?
Which is why the hospice team is adding a new cog to the wheel of its biggest fundraiser in the calendar – the annual Cycle4Cynthia bike ride – by urging businesses to sign up to Bike4Bedtime.
With this new initiative the hospice is inviting companies to pledge to cover the cost of entering their team of four, which at £15 per rider is just £60, and then encourage each team member to find the remaining individual sponsorship of £111, thereby raising a total of £504 and providing another vital day’s care for a patient.
Among the first businesses to sign up to Bike4Bedtime is property development and investment company Darby Group and co-director, Max Darby, believes this new campaign is a great idea: “I’ve taken part in Cycle4Cynthia for the last two years so I already know what an amazing event it is and the opportunity to support this incredible charity in such a tangible way seems an obvious thing to do.
“My father passed away at the hospice four years ago and not only was the care he received second to none, but the support that my mother and the whole family experienced was exceptional, so to think that we can help extend that to another family by effectively funding 24 hours’ care for them, simply by having fun on our bikes, is fantastic,” he added.
The hospice’s fundraising manager, John Helm, is delighted to have the Darby Group’s commitment and hopes that more businesses will leap into their saddles to Bike4Bedtime. He said: “This year we need to raise over a million pounds to continue to provide support and to grow our offer to help more people access our vital services, but I think such large figures can sometimes seem inconceivable.
“However, this initiative offers a way in which riders can really visualise how their sponsorship money would be spent and so we’d love many more firms to sign up.
“I’d therefore encourage businesses to get in touch to learn what they can receive in return but, of course, the greatest reward will be the warm glow they will get from knowing they are supporting one of the county’s best-loved charities.”
Cycle4Cynthia 2019, again being generously supported by headline sponsor EMW Law LLP, will take place on Sunday 22 September at Holdenby House by kind permission of James and Karen Lowther, with five, 25 and 50 mile routes on offer.
For more information about Bike4Bedtime or details of other corporate sponsorship opportunities, call the Hospice on 01604 210941 or email
You can also learn more about the ride – which has seen thousands of cyclists help raise almost £600,000 in its 15-year history – and complete the online entry form by visiting www.cycle4cynthia.co.uk
Meanwhile, to keep up-to-date with the latest news on the event, visit and like both the ride’s and the hospice’s pages on Facebook.