TIP Group complete their 12th charity bike ride

Dedicated supporters from the TIP Group recently completed their 12^th charity bike ride and took their phenomenal fundraising past the €1m milestone. Over the last twelve years they have raised almost £700,000 for Dougie Mac through cycling challenges in Spain, Italy and Croatia.

Their latest challenge saw a group of 55 cyclists, nicknamed the “Fat Bottomed Boys and Girls”, complete a 350km route from Seville to Malaga, through the mountains of Andalucia, Spain.

Mike Furnival, Managing Director UK & Ireland, shared more about the group’s epic fundraising:

“The challenge started back in 2014 when a group of managers, based in Manchester, decided to cycle to Amsterdam where our European Head Office is located. We completed the route and raised a bit of money for a national charity, so we decided to do another challenge the following year, this time cycling from our Manchester offices to our offices in Galway. Again, we raised some money for charity and decided to make it a regular event.

“For the third challenge we wanted to support a local charity, where our business fundraising would really make a difference. As I’m from Stoke and some of the other managers had connections to the area, we’d heard about The Donna Louise Children’s Hospice, and after watching a video about their work we decided to support them. When The Donna Louise was taken over by Dougie Mac we continued fundraising for the hospice.

“Although our team of cyclists come from across the UK, including Ireland and Scotland, and one guy even joining us from France, we’re all committed to fundraising for Dougie Mac as we can really see the benefits of what we do. We know our fundraising makes a huge difference to a local charity and that keeps us going throughout the challenge.”

Each cycling challenge involves a huge logistical effort and a lot of organisation – planning the route, booking accommodation and ensuring the cyclists and their equipment arrive at the starting point on time.

Mike explained how each challenge takes shape, “We start thinking about the next challenge as soon as we get back, so I’ve already got a few ideas for next year. Initially we look for a distance of around 350km, with a clear start and end point, then we look at the technical details.

“Thankfully we were introduced to a professional cyclist who runs a cycling business in Majorca, so once we have a clear idea, we chat with him and he studies the route in more detail. He then helps us factor in hotels, restaurants and water stops and uses his professional opinion to decide if it’s an achievable challenge or not. He’ll also drive the route for us, as a final check – for example one year we’d planned a route in Southern Italy, but when he drove it, he realised that it was completely unsuitable, so we quickly changed our plans.

“We aim to choose a route that’s challenging but suitable for all abilities. Once the route and location are sorted, it’s time to recruit our cyclists and we reach out to colleagues, suppliers and customers across the country. We have a core group of about thirty cyclists who have done pretty much every challenge, then we also have some new faces each year, which is great as it keeps the momentum going and helps us to spread the word.

“We use one of our trucks to transport all the bikes and equipment, all the cyclists have to do is get their bikes to the Manchester depot and we arrange the rest for them, we even use the same driver every year, his time is kindly donated by one of our customers.

“On the first day of each challenge, there’s lots of trepidation, everyone is nervous but excited, but it gets easier once we get going. We cycle in groups of around 10 people, with a professional cyclist in each group who can give medical and mechanical help, as well as keep everyone motivated. This year we were lucky with the weather, although it was really cold in the mountains, but other years there have been torrential downpours and strong headwinds, which have been really challenging.    

“We’re really proud every time we complete a challenge, it’s always tough and we ache for a few days after but it’s always worth the pain. We’re so proud of how much we’ve raised over the years and we’re really grateful to everyone who continues to support us, especially as we reach out to the same customers, colleagues and suppliers every year, but they continue to be so generous and never let us down. Knowing that we’re supporting Dougie Mac and making a real difference makes it all worthwhile.”