“Tour de Foster” raises £5,000

UK: While most were enjoying the August bank holiday, an intrepid team from Foster Refrigerator was completing a 350-mile charity cycle ride.

The group, mostly work mates at Lynn-based Foster Refrigerator, managed to raise over £5,000 by completing the journey from Foster’s Paris office to the factory in King’s Lynn in four days.

Dubbed the Tour de Foster, the money raised from the event will go to Rudham Ward at King’s Lynn’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital, which provides vital acute paediatric care for children up to 16 years old.

The team was part of Foster’s cycling group “Foster and Friends”, which regularly raises money for charity. They chose Rudham Ward at King’s Lynn’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital this time as one of the team, Emma Thompson, is a staff nurse on the ward.

The event would have passed without drama had it not been for the fact that many of the cyclists collided, falling off their bikes in nearby Newmarket and requiring a team check at accident and emergency.

Chris Playford, market and development director at Foster, was one of the crew taking part, along with husband and wife team Paddy and Annie Thompson, Paddy’s sister Emma Thompson,  Chris and Roy Faull, Stuart Howlett, Ali Logan, Ian Bromley, Dean Rawnsley, Kevin Piggott and the only French speaker – and new cyclist – Gemma Benlarbi, with Foster support crew – Paul Smith.

“Aside from our little incident at the end, it all went really well,” commented Chris Playford. It was really hard work, but we stuck together and dug deep. Thank you to everyone who helped us raise money for Rudham Ward – a great local cause.”

He also thanked DFDS Seaways and local company Barry’s Cars & Minibuses for their generous support with transportation.

Support for the team’s efforts are still welcomed at its JustGiving website