The proceeds go to the ongoing costs of running St David’s Hospice Care. St David’s Hospice Care look after over 3,000 patients across the region in their hospices, day centres and at home.
Adrian Hadley, Deputy CEO of St David’s Hospice Care, said “we are absolutely delighted with the total amount raised from this event. All riders contributed a minimum of £250 sponsorship with many raising significantly more and event sponsors also adding to the total. We already know our final figure will be in excess of £10,000 and we hope to announce this in the coming weeks.”
29 participants took part in this weekend’s ride, covering a total of 97 miles on their route between Llanelli and Newport, visiting Parc y Scarlets, Liberty Stadium, BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park and Rodney Parade in the process. They included former Newport RFC and Newport Gwent Dragons Flanker Jason Forster. Jason said “it’s a fantastic charity, not only for the people who have fallen ill but also for the families and relatives in giving them the care and guidance they need”.
Stuart Davies, CEO of Newport Gwent Dragons said “when we planned this event we wanted to bring people together with a weekend of physical activity and their love of rugby. To make it to all four regional grounds was a great experience for riders, and we have had some great feedback from those who took part.”
54 miles were covered on Saturday between Llanelli and the Acorn Camping and Caravan Park in Llantwit Major, where riders stayed overnight in luxury Bell Tents provided by Goodyhoo Clamping and were kindly hosted for the evening by Llantwit Major RFC. As well as travelling to Liberty Stadium riders travelled to Mumbles, Port Talbot and Ogmore. There were a few technical problems on the final part of Saturday’s route with participant Michelle Hill reporting “we came out of the second rest stop and I picked up a pin badge in my tyre, four punctures later I limped here on flat tyre and finally made it in.”
43 miles were covered on Sunday between Llantwit Major and Rodney Parade. As well as visiting BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park riders travelled to Barry Island and Cardiff Bay. Dragons stars, who return to training this week, joined the riders to offer support with Ed Jackson and Ross Wardle coming to BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park as well as Dorian Jones and Carl Meyer welcoming riders back to Rodney Parade.
Sponsors of the Dragons Charity Bike Ride include Atradius, Cineworld, Richard Andrews Architects, Rougemont School, Tractor Hire, Acorn Campsite and Goodyhoo Glamping. All kindly supported the event by providing donations, services and contributing towards Rider Jerseys and Polo Tops. Mo Williams of event sponsor Cineworld said “we have a long established relationship with the Dragons and we felt it is such a worthwhile charity that if we could support it, we should support it”.
Geraint Yeo from Dragons Partner David Spear Commercial Vehicles, said “as soon as we heard about this event we wanted to support it. I was delighted to be able to take part along with two of my colleagues. We had a fantastic time raising money for a really worthwhile cause.”
Dragons TV followed the ride over two days. Click below to watch:
