Cycle in to help out! Reading charity holds cycle-athon to help struggling families

A social enterprise in Reading has held a cycle-athon to raise money to help out struggling families in the town.

Office workers at the Apex Plaza contemporary workspace would have seen something out of the ordinary at the ground floor of the building as two exercise bikes were installed for the cycle-athon.

The event was organised by Connect Reading to raise funds for supermarket vouchers to help families buy groceries in the cost of living crisis.

Matt De La Harpe, assistant manager and coach at Buzz Gym Reading was spotted on one of the bikes provided.

Mr De La Harpe said: “The aim for the day is a little bit of a friendly competition between all of the staff and passers-by here.

“Everyone gets 10 minutes on the bike, and have to go as fast as they can!

“There was a little bit of fun, a little bit of friendly competition earlier on, but obviously the aim is to donate towards the charity.”

The aim was to raise funds for Aldi shopping vouchers that will be distributed to struggling families for its summer initiative.

Lorraine Briffitt, CEO of Connect Reading explained: “It is to raise money for our Summer Giving Appeal, which is connecting all the vouchers for local families in need.

“We’re working with Berkshire Vision,  Cowshed and Home Start Reading to make sure that all the vouchers get straight into the hands of local families who are struggling over the summer holiday.

“So they can provide food and toys for their kids when they’re struggling with the cost of living crisis.”

The cycle-athon took place from 11am to 2pm on Tuesday, July 2.

The Connect Reading Summer Giving Appeal runs until Friday, July 5. You can donate on its website.

Maeve Flanagan, the general manager at Apex Plaza, who joined Lorraine on one of the bikes, said: “It’s really exciting to work with Connect Reading to bring this initiative into the building and work with the local community to hopefully raise some really good funds and be part of a great event.

“We look forward to these initiatives and opportunities to give back to the community.”

Lorraine was spotted at a meeting with fellow business owners at a discussion with Rachel Reeves, the Labour Party’s pick for chancellor at the Rustic Cafe in Maiden Place, Lower Earley.

A staff member and Matt De La Harpe, assistant manager and coach at Buzz Gym Reading both take part in the cycle-athon at Apex Plaza. (Image: James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporting Service)

Connect Reading held a similar cycle-athon at The Oracle shopping centre in June.

Reflecting on that event, Mr De La Harpe commented: “We put the bikes right in The Oracle, we manged to get all of the staff, security and management team involved as well.

“We were there for about six hours which was awesome.

“We had loads of the public really good music, everyone got involved and it was really good fun.”