Last year on the May bank holiday weekend Mike Burns set off on a marathon sponsored cycle ride to raise money for Freewheelers. He was so successful and enjoyed it so much that this morning, Sunday May 1st, he is doing it all over again. Mike and riding companion Paul Lowe are setting off from the NHS Blood & Transplant donor centre in Newcastle on the first leg of their ride, which will take them to every blood donor centre in England. During their journey they will be joined by 70 riders and will cross the Pennines three times, covering over 1,200 miles. En route they will stay at Hotel du Vin and Malmaison hotels, and staff from the hotels will be joining Mike and Paul on the ride. Other companies, whose employees will be joining the ride and raising money include Paul's employers AXA Wealth, Bristol-based CCT, Bath-based City Financial, and Downside School. You can see the route that Mike and Paul will be taking at www.bloodbikes.co.uk, and you can keep track their progress on the blog.

If the fundraising goes as planned it will allow each of the companies to buy a new vehicle for Freewheelers. On Saturday May 21st in Plymouth, at the end of the ride, Mike and Paul hope to present us with a new Volkswagen Tiguan 4x4, a BMW R1200RT and a BMW F800ST. The Tiguan is going to be used in support of the new breast milk bank at Southmead Hospital, which is launching this year. The R1200RT will be used by our riders in Somerset to replace an ageing Honda. The F800ST, one of three that we hope to buy as a result of this ride, will be used as a relief bike when things get really busy, as well as for fundraising events. As the F800ST is much smaller and lighter than the R1200RT, it will also be available to any of our duty riders who prefer it to the larger bike.

If you want to support Mike and Paul by making a donation, please visit their JustGiving page.