1 July 2024

On Thursday 27 June, a team of employees from Equans UK and other partners cycled a route through the New Forest to raise money for Portsmouth Hospitals Charity, as well as two other charities: Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance and Open Sight.

The team decided to raise this money after a colleague was left with life-changing injuries following a random attack at Central Middlesex Hospital in London last year. Since the incident, their colleague has been focusing on his recovery but recently decided the time was right to help give back to some of the organisations that have helped him on his road to rehabilitation over the last year.

On top of the ride through the New Forest, there was also a month long 75-mile cycle challenge throughout June, where participants could choose to complete the 75 miles wherever and whenever they wanted, whether this be on the road, at the gym or with their families.

This ride not only supported the three charities, but also linked back to the 75th year of the NHS, taking place weeks before the NHS celebrated its 76th birthday on 5 July 2024.

Originally, the team were aiming to raise £3,000 for their respective charities. However, this goal was reached more than two weeks before their big event at the end of June and in total they raised over £11,200 which will be split between the three charities.

Stephen Aspinall, who works at Equans and helped planned the event, said, “The idea for Ride75 came from when one of our colleagues was injured at work and together we wanted to give something back. This event was all about doing something inclusive, such as riding 75 miles over the period of June, in order to get as many people motivated to raise money for some great charities.”