Monday 29 June 2015

Action 100 Charity Ride on 30th August

I have just received news of a charity ride at the end of August to raise funds for Action Medical Research, the well-known children's charity that has Paddington Bear as its mascot. I have never posted on the blog before about such events, though I do participate in at least one charity bike ride a year myself. 

In any case, Ellie's email was so charming and not at all pushy... and I do believe this is a ride that may appeal to a few readers and is certainly a good cause... so here you go!









PRESS RELEASE

25 June 2015

Charity seeks riders for Action 100 cycle challenge

The Action 100 cycling challenge will take place from Bristol to London this summer and children’s charity Action Medical Research is calling for riders to sign up now for the event on Sunday, 30 August.


The ride has raised more than £1 million for the children’s charity since it was first held in 1982, when it began in Bath; these days the start line is in Keynsham just outside Bristol.

The 114-mile route for this amazing sportive, Action’s original cycling event, takes riders across five counties to the very welcome finish at Staines Rugby Football Club.

The route, which was revamped last year, takes in the picturesque market towns of Chippenham and Marlborough and crosses the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to Newbury before skirting Reading and Bracknell, skimming past Windsor Great Park and on to Hanworth.

Coach travel and bike transport is available back to the start venue, with riders able to collect their bikes on the same day.

This event is part of the charity’s popular RIDE100 series of one-day bike rides that take place in fantastic cycling locations across the UK. All include chip timing, food and water stations, lunch, marshals and mechanics. 

Cyclists participating in the Action 100 will be raising money to help fund medical research into conditions affecting babies and children. Action Medical Research has been funding medical breakthroughs since it began in 1952. The charity is currently supporting work around childhood cancer, Down syndrome, epilepsy, and cystic fibrosis, as well as some rare and distressing conditions that severely affect children.

Among the research the charity is currently funding is a study taking place at the University of Bristol. Around one in four children who undergo surgery to remove a tumour from the back of the brain – the cerebellum – develop a distressing side effect called cerebellar mutism syndrome.1 They lose the ability to speak and have difficulty coordinating their movements; although their condition normally improves with time, children are often left with permanent disabilities. Professor Richard Apps is looking for a way to improve surgery and stop children developing these life-changing disabilities.

In another study at the university, Professor Andrés López Bernal is researching the natural processes that control labour and childbirth. Around one in 20 pregnancies worldwide ends with the mother going into labour too soon and having her baby prematurely2 but a dire lack of understanding of these processes is limiting our ability to help.

Places for the Action 100 are limited so make sure you register soon. Sportive entry is £38, or the Fundraiser option costs £25, with participants committing to raise at least £40 sponsorship for Action Medical Research.

For more information about the Action 100 and to register, visit

- ENDS -

References:
  1. Wells EM, Walsh KS, Kademian ZP, Keating RF & Packer RJ. The cerebellar mutism syndrome and its relation to cerebellar cognitive function and the cerebellar cognitive affective disorder. Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews 2008; 14, 221-228
  2. Beck et al. Bull World Health Organ, 2010, 88:31-38

To read glowing reviews of last year’s Action 100, please visit http://www.action.org.uk/action-100-bristol-london/testimonials

For more information about Action Medical Research, please contact Ellie Evans, Fundraising Communications Officer, on:
T: 01403 327480
Follow us on Twitter at @actionmedres and @amr_events  
Like our Facebook page at facebook.com/actionmedres


Action Medical Research is a leading UK-wide charity working to save and change children’s lives through medical research. We believe that the diseases that devastate the lives of so many of our children can be beaten. We have been funding medical breakthroughs since we began in 1952 like the first polio vaccines in the UK, ultrasound in pregnancy and the rubella vaccine – helping to save thousands of children’s lives and change many more.

Just one breakthrough, however small, can mean the world. Charity reg.nos 208701 and SC039284.

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