Ex-NFU president Peter Kendall is mid-way through a 1,000-mile bike ride to raise money for the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution, the Addington Fund, the Farming Community Network, and Farm Africa.
The 12-day ride will take Kendall, along with partner Oxford Farming Conference chairman Richard Whitlock, clockwise round the country to every NFU regional office and its NFU Cymru office in Builth Wells.
Yesterday they completed a gruelling 85-mile leg from the NFU office in Newmarket, East Anglia, to central London, joined by NFU regional director Pamela Forbes.
They set off on Monday 16 June from Skelmersdale in the north west of England and have been joined by various friends for different legs of the journey.
The grand final will take place next Friday 27 June, as the cyclists finish at NFU headquarters at Stoneleigh Park, near Warwick.
“There is some fantastic work being done by these charities,” said Kendall. “The flooding crisis in parts of the country at the start of the year, and the overwhelming response to that, is testament to the importance of rural charities such as RABI, FCN and Addington, working tirelessly to ensure rural communities farmers and growers have a safety net during times of trouble.
“Our fundraising challenge will help go some way to keeping these issues firmly in the media spotlight.”
He added: “I have always resisted doing anything like this for charity because the NFU day job over the past few years has kept me busy. Despite that, I had become seriously out of condition in recent times and my kids have been relentless in their condemnation of my decline. So, for me, this is a mad challenge. I know I am certainly keeping those manufacturers of Deep Heat in business.
“The thing that will keep me going over those tough Pennine hills however is the fact that this is all for charity. I am really up for this challenge and hope people will give as much as they can to help the four extremely worthwhile causes we are supporting.”
Whitlock said: “We both must have hit that mid-life crisis point but what better way to get over that than a cycle challenge of this scale to raise money for such essential charities.
“For me cycling is a great way to see the countryside, get fit and this year, raising money for four excellent agricultural charities. There are always people worse off than we are and it’s good to have the pain of a 1,000-mile cycle ride to help ease the pain for those who are not so fortunate. These four charities make a real in the field difference to people’s lives in our industry.”
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