Charity funds raised in European bike trek.
A Milton Keynes cyclist has completed an arduous 300 kilometre ride across Europe in honour of the wartime ‘Long March’.
Earlier this month MKFM told how consultant Roger Churchill was planning a mammoth bike ride with friends, from Poland into Germany, to raise funds for charity and coincide with the VE Day celebrations.
They were highlighting the ‘Long March’ – often called the ‘Death March’ – in which Roger’s father, Squadron Leader Richard ‘Dickie’ Churchill, was forced to take part. More than 80,000 prisoners of war were made to march ahead of the advancing Russian army.
Roger’s group arrived in Berlin last week as Europe marked the 80th anniversary of VE Day, completing their gruelling ride and raising nearly £10,000 for charities including the Royal British Legion and Coventry Cathedral. They planned to lay a wreath at the famous Neue Wache memorial.
“The arrival into Berlin was defined by the rapid cessation of the agriculture and the rise of suburbs in its place,” said Roger.
“With good navigation we made our way between the increasingly heavy traffic to the Neue Wache memorial, a short walk and ride from the Brandenburg Gate and imposing government structures.
“The overly effective heavily armed police presence surrounding the memorial gave it a more Hollywood feel than we had expected, in a bad way. We later discovered that there were important regional majors laying their respective wreaths and we had not been invited or ‘booked in’.
“The benefit of this slight delay was that we had a refreshing drink with the Bishop of Coventry who was in Berlin on official business between the two towns and managed to make time to join us and have photographs with us as we laid our wreath in the Neue Wache.
“A very fitting end to our journey and one that has helped us raise the profile of the Long March and almost raise the £10,000 target we had set at the outset.”
The fund page is still open for a short time: www.givewheel.com/fundraising/6390/long-march-80th-anniversary-charity-cycle-ride.
