More than £4,000 has been raised in memory of the skipper of the British yacht Cheeki Rafiki that sank in the North Atlantic last year.
Charlie Edwards, who works for Southern Electric Power Distribution (SEPD), and two of his friends cycled from London to Paris in 24 hours to raise money for a charity close to the heart of their boyhood friend Andrew Bridge.
Andrew, James Male, Paul Goslin and Steve Warren were sailing across the Atlantic when the Cheeki Rafiki was lost at sea.
Charlie and his friends Lester Hill and Freddie Nelson set off from outside the Houses of Parliament at 3am last Saturday and arrived in Paris just after midnight. They cycled over 230 miles in all weather and (traffic!) conditions, raising over £4,000 for a sailing charity for disabled people, Sailability, at Frensham Sailing Club.
Charlie, who works as a Community Liaison Officer for SEPD in Vastern Road, explains why the three lads put their bodies through such a gruelling test:
“We’d all grown up together in Farnham and Andrew was a great friend of ours. We wanted to do something in his memory, something which would help the charity closest to his heart, Sailability at Frensham Sailing Club.
Sailability helps to get people with a wide spectrum of disabilities to get involved in sailing and Andrew was a regular helper there, often telling us how rewarding it was to see everyone enjoying themselves on the water.”
This is one cycle ride that Charlie and friends won’t forget in a hurry. They set off from London in darkness, cycled through the heat of Saturday afternoon, and then had to cope a drastic drop in temperature as they approached France.
“The whole experience was tremendous from start to finish, with some amazing scenery to help keep our minds off the fact that our bodies were beginning to develop aches and pains in places I didn’t know existed!,” explained Charlie.
“After about 8pm on Saturday when the sun had disappeared we actually began to welcome the uphils, as when we were whizzing down the other side our speed and the natural drop in temperature combined to make it feel like we were out in our shorts and t-shirts in the middle of December!”
Charlie is now back at his desk in SEPD’s Vastern Road offices in Reading and, although still quite stiff from his weekend adventure, is tremendously proud of what he, Lester and Freddie have achieved.
“Before we set off we were determined to do something that Andrew would’ve been proud of and I think we’ve now achieved that without a doubt. What’s fantastic is that we’ve also raised over £4,000 for a charity that was so close to Andrew’s heart, and the donations are still coming in!”