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Company boss gets on his bike for Julia’s House
20 February 2009
AquaCare's boss has raised £1,000 for Dorset's only children's hospice after quite literally getting on his bike.
Simon Booth, Managing Director of AquaCare, was among more than 300 riders successfully completing the Velo Vosqes Challenge. Sixty teams of four took part in the event, organised by Challenge Adventure Charities, which involved cycling 485 miles in relay in three days.
The challenge began at Arras in France, near the English Channel, and then followed part of what was the Western Front in the Great War. Riders passed memorials to the fallen youth among the poppy fields, cycling along the Somme, before crossing the formidable Vosges mountains. They finished in the village of Riquewihr in Alsace, eastern France, on the Rhine River border with Germany.
As part of a four-man relay team Simon, a father of two from Verwood, covered a quarter of the distance, some 120 miles. "This was a great physical and mental challenge. It was good to be part of such a worthwhile event which also raised a large amount of money for Cancer Research and Wessex Heartbeat," he said.
Simon has now presented a cheque for £1,000 to Julia's House at Corfe Mullen. The charity is Dorset's only hospice dedicated to children with life-limiting conditions and offers care both at home and in the hospice. AquaCare, which is owned by Bournemouth & West Hampshire Water, has adopted Julia's House as its charity for 2009. It is also providing free emergency plumbing, heating and drains support to the Corfe Mullen hospice.
Lin Hudswell, Community Fundraising Manager, Julia's House, said: "Aquacare is providing tremendous support, both through practical support and staff fundraising. The company's Managing Director, Simon, has certainly led by example undertaking this cycling challenge. "With less than three per cent of the £2.4 million we need in 2009 coming from the government, our work would just not be possible without help like this."
ENDS
Picture caption: Wheely good: Simon Booth, Aqua Care's Managing Director, and Dawn Witt, Marketing Manager (centre) present a £1,000 cheque to Lin Hudswell of Julia's House.
For more information please contact: Simon Booth, Managing Director, AquaCare, on 01202 591100 or Andrew Diprose, PR Account Director, Deep South Media, on 01202 534487.