Helen Gets On Her Bike For Charity

Helen, aged 51 and a mother of two from Pudsey, Leeds, took part in the London to Paris ride with friend and fellow volunteer Diane Shaw who works at Network Rail.
 
The bike ride involving 50 volunteers was organised by Across the Divide, a company that facilitates fundraising events and has raised over £43 million for charitable causes. Helen started her challenge at Blackheath in London on Wednesday June 23, finishing three days later on Saturday June by crossing the finishing line at the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
   
Helens journey was far from an easy ride and she feared the worst when her gear system broke followed closely by a flat tyre two hours before the finish line - luckily the support crew were on hand to fix the bike and help Helen ride to victory.
  
Helen said: "Taking part in this event was a fantastic experience and spending 28 hours on a bike was all worth it to raise money for a good cause. In total I raised over £1,000 and everyones small donations will really help make a difference to Cancer Research."
 
Helens next charity challenge is Leeds Grammar Schools Triathlon on August 1, which consists of a 16 length swim, 20k bike ride and finishes with a 5k run.
 
Loop has its own charity action group - The Heart of Loop - which supports a number of worthy charities each year. Employees are regularly involved in volunteering initiatives with its sister company Yorkshire Water such as the One Million Green Fingers campaign that uses employees to create gardens in schools across the region and the Right to Read and Number Partner schemes that help primary school children with extra support.