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Just a week after returning from the Paralympic Games in Rio, gold medallist Jody Cundy was in Hertfordshire to see off riders who have helped raise more than £70,000 on the inaugural Willmott Dixon Classic in aid of Action Medical Research.
Construction and property development company Willmott Dixon held the epic bike ride through the firm’s heartland on Friday, 23 September, to help save and change children’s lives.
The Classic saw almost 200 riders waved off from The Heath Sports Centre in Royston by Jody, a long-time supporter of Action Medical Research who regained his Kilo Paralympic title in a new Paralympic record of 1:04.492, and took gold again with Louis Rolfe and Jon-Allan Butterworth in the Mixed Team Sprint C1-5.
The route was designed by Action’s cycling experts to celebrate Willmott Dixon's roots, with cyclists going through Bassingbourn village where John Willmott founded the company in 1852 with his first workshop.
Now it was his direct descendant Rick Willmott who led the riders, with the route also taking in the Wimpole Estate where the company had its first project before visiting modern projects like the European Bioinformatics Institute and a recent Sunesis school in Biggleswade.
Group Chief Executive Rick says: “It was tremendous to see so many riders and volunteers join us today to raise money for this fantastic cause and see where it all started for our company in 1852.
"I would like to thank everyone who supported the event - the £70,000 raised will help further important work by Action Medical Research to stop the suffering of children caused by disease and disability. I also hope everyone enjoyed seeing some of the projects that have helped Willmott Dixon become the company it is today.”
With the help of its supporters, the UK-wide children’s charity has played a significant role in many medical breakthroughs since it began in 1952, from the development of the first UK polio vaccines to the use of ultrasound in pregnancy.
It is currently funding research into meningitis, Down syndrome, epilepsy and premature birth, as well as some rare and distressing conditions that severely affect children.
To find out more about Action Medical Research, please visit action.org.uk
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To download high-res images of the ride, please click on the links below:
Paralympic double gold medal winner Jody Cundy who helped start the ride -
https://www.action.org.uk/sites/default/files/downloads/press/willmott_dixon_-_jody_cundy.jpg
Riders on the route -
https://www.action.org.uk/sites/default/files/downloads/press/willmott_dixon_-_riders_on_road.jpg
Cyclists at Wimpole Estate -
https://www.action.org.uk/sites/default/files/downloads/press/willmott_dixon_-_wimpole_estate.jpg
NOTES TO EDITORS:
For more information on Action Medical Research, please contact Ellie Evans, Fundraising Communications Officer, on:
T 01403 327480
Follow us on Twitter at @actionmedres and @amr_events
Like our Facebook page at facebook.com/actionmedres
Follow us at pinterest/actionmedres
Action Medical Research is a leading UK-wide charity saving and changing children’s lives through medical research. For more than 60 years we’ve helped pioneer ways to prevent disease and develop treatments benefiting millions of people. Our research has helped to beat polio in the UK, develop ultrasound, fight meningitis and prevent stillbirths. But we urgently need to develop more new treatments and cures for sick babies and children and we can’t do it without you.
Join our fight for little lives today.
Charity reg. nos 208701 and SC039284.
More on Willmott Dixon:
• As a contractor, we work with government, local authority and private sector clients, delivering capital projects in education, justice, retail, health and social housing. We also deliver interior design and fit-out services, plus sustainability consultancy to meet the low carbon challenges we all face.
• As a developer, we develop high quality residential units for sale through our company Prime Place, often as part of mixed-use projects and, through Be: here, we are involved in developing and managing residential accommodation for the private rental sector.
• As a property maintainer, we deliver a range of planned, preventative and responsive care to property, which includes maintaining over 110,000 homes across the UK and providing a fast efficient service to a number of commercial brands. We are also an official ECO provider with an in-house expertise to improve energy efficiency for residents and corporate property owners alike.