Cycling to Success – Over £4,800 Raised at Charity Spinathon
We started February in absolute style this year with our Charity Spinathon. An afternoon where we take over the group cycle studio for five back-to-back classes all in the name of fitness and fundraising. Fifty members, friends, family and representatives from the charities joined us for what was a brilliant event. This year our member chosen charities are Bedford Blues Foundation and the Primrose Car Service, and we are absolutely delighted to share that we raised £4,812.50 for them which will be split equally! A stunning achievement!
So many people helped us to get to this phenomenal total. We will start with thanks to our wonderful instructors, Maija, Matt, Natalie, Hazel, Louise and Jayden who pulled the programme together and without whom the event could not run! They put a lot of preparation into the classes (and outfits!) and also give their time for free.
Maija (or should I say Chappell Roan!) started us off with some top anthems from the best female artists out there! Next up Matt took us on a big climb with some euphoric music to keep those legs pedalling. Nat channelled her inner cave woman – looking awesome as she led us for class three with some Ibiza anthems. By class four those doing all five classes welcomed a different approach from Hazel, Louise and their glamourous assistant Katy as in a first for us (and probably all spin studios!) we had a game show! Prizes were on offer but if you got the answers wrong you had to pedal more! Still a great workout and legs were definitely still moving but lots of fun too! The studio was split into two teams, with Louise’s team the winners and all receiving medals. Jayden then got onto the bike to take us around the world in 80 songs for our last class and 80 songs there were! Finishing with “We are the Champions”, the perfect ending to a feast of spin. We hope everyone who went to the classes will agree they were all brilliant.
Next we must thank the riders who joined us on the bikes. Whether you join us for one or two classes or all five we are extremely grateful for your support – thank you to everyone for donating and giving your time. This year we introduced a fundraising bike and five members additionally asked friends and family for sponsorship, which raised a fantastic amount. Thank you to Josh Perry, Graham Moore, Ross McKinley, Keith Parkinson and Pete Ward for their fundraising efforts!
In another new addition for this year’s event, we were joined by some representatives from the charities we were supporting. This included Tom Harwood Head of the Blues Foundation who wanted to share his appreciation: “Thank you so much to everyone who took part on Saturday, for including me and to everyone who donated! We are incredibly grateful for your support and I know both charities will be able to support local people through our services. The funds will directly support young people from Bedford and inspire them to use sport in a positive way.” It was his first time in a cycle class, but he says it won’t be his last. We’re pleased to hear we’ve converted someone else to the wonder of group cycle!
Primrose Car Service supporter and Guiness World Record Holder Alex Goulding also joined us for Maija’s class. He said he loved the session and commented that he was grateful to Club Towers members and instructors for fundraising and creating awareness for a charity that really helps local people at a difficult time of their lives. We couldn’t agree more. Having you guys there helped to remind us what we were doing it all for.
A special “shout out” must go to those who did all five classes. Whilst we try to make it as fun as we can, it is hard and a real achievement! They are: Natalie Tillett, Nick Baker, Di Webley, Jo Phillimore, Jacqueline Ross, Sally Hunter, Kuldip Kular and Nick Mills.
Our final thank you goes to those members and friends and family who donated either in the Club or on our Givewheel page. Hearing the total go up throughout the afternoon really helped keep us all motivated!
We finished the event as always with a delicious buffet and some celebratory fizz in the Club Lounge where we could discuss how incredible the costumes were again this year. Particular levels of commitment came from our minions with their custom-built rockets – you would all have definitely earnt a Blue Peter badge! The rockets are now being enjoyed by our younger members in our creche.
If you’ve been inspired by those getting on the bikes, it’s not too late to donate at our GiveWheel page – Charity Spinathon! – GiveWheel or in the Club at Reception.
We’ve included just a few pictures from the afternoon below, there are lots more on our Facebook page, if you’d like a copy of any, please do let Jo know via [email protected].
Coming Up
Looking ahead, it’s not long until our next Fitness event, with our Fitness in the Bubble taking place on Saturday 22nd March. A two-hour mash up of all our favourite classes under our tennis bubble before it comes down for the Summer.
And our next big charity event is our Summer Ball which will take place on Saturday 28th June at the Bedford Blues marquee.
Please save the dates now and bookings will open for both soon. Look out details on the screens in the Club and in our newsletter.
