A TEAM of cyclists from CALA Homes’ Midlands office in Shirley got on their bikes for charity – raising nearly £4,500 in donations for Team Margot and Delete Blood Cancer UK.
The CALA Pedal Pushers, a team of eight colleagues, cycled 110 miles from the CALA offices in Arleston Way, Shirley, to Windsor, before taking part in the annual CALA Homes summer tag rugby tournament the next day.
The route took the cyclists past a number of CALA developments in the Midlands including those in Mickleton and Shipston-on-Stour.
The team hope to raise awareness of Team Margot and their aim is to highlight the very urgent need for more people to register as potential stem cell and bone marrow donors.
So far the cyclists have raised £4,498, which will be donated to Blood Cancer UK.
Steve Davies, who took part in the ride, said: “This was a charity ride with a difference.
“Yes we are hugely grateful for the kind donations we received but we what we really want is to get people’s attention for two minutes to help raise awareness of the fantastic Team Margot cause.
“Margot Martini was a brave little girl who contracted Leukaemia when she was just 14 months old.
“Her family’s response started the Team Margot movement to get more people to join the cell donor register.
“Through their work alone, many thousands of people joined the register and lives have already been saved as a direct result of this effort.
“This is fantastic, but it’s just a ‘drop in the ocean’ in terms of the number of people we need right now on the register.”
Over 37,000 people worldwide need a bone marrow transplant but they must first find a matching donor.
At best the odds of finding a match are only 50 per cent.
The odds of success fall to just 21% if the patient has an ethnic or mixed race heritage.
You can still sponsor the CALA Pedal Pushers at www.justgiving.com/calapedalpushers
