Cyclists set to give it some welly in 210-mile charity ride

Fishermans Arms landlady Hazle Whitelock presents the cash donation to Andy Johnson and fellow cyclists Wayne Platt(left) Darren Killick and Steve Bell(right). Picture by Tom Collins.

Members of the ‘Yellow Welly’ cycling team are hoping to turn pedal power into pounds to raise cash for Hartlepool’s lifeboat station during the Coast and Castles ride.

The fundraising bike ride is being held from Hartlepool to Edinburgh at the end of May next year to raise funds for the RNLI.

And the fundraising is already underway with a generous donation of £77 from the Fisherman’s Arms quiz teams on the Headland, and the cyclists are appealing for more people to follow suit.

Pub landlady Hazel Whitelock said: “Members of the ‘Yellow Welly’ cycling team approached us to help with their fundraising efforts so we nominated them as charity of the month and the money raised came from the raffles held during our quiz nights.

“We like to support local charities and the local RNLI station and their volunteer crew members deserve every penny we can give them.”

One of the six riders taking part in the three-day ride is 40 year old Andy Johnson, an education programme co-ordinator and volunteer crew member at the Hartlepool RNLI lifeboat station.

He said: “We aim to raise as much money as we can for the charity that saves lives at sea.

“This is a very generous donation from the quiz teams at the ‘Fish’ and will hopefully spur us on as we start training for the ‘Coast and Castles’ ride.

“Anybody wanting to support us with a donation or kit can contact us via our Facebook page or on Twitter at #yellawellytour”