Four women who are raising funds to help the fight against children’s cancers by driving two Tuks Tuks round Britain will visit Harrogate on Thursday (4 May 2017).
The Beijing Biddies Tuk Tuk Challenge team will stop off at The Sir Robert Ogden Centre at Harrogate Hospital to see some of the work being done to help cancer patients.
The women, Kate Sleath, aged 66, from Wetherby, along with Edwina Sorkin (71), Helen Stobart (51) and Liz Tinkler (50), from Cumbria, have raised £80,000 so far for Cancer Research UK and Macmillan Cancer Support and are aiming to reach over £100,000.
Team leader Edwina, who is originally from Leeds, said: “We are looking forward to meeting staff and patients at the Sir Robert Ogden Centre and seeing how the money we are raising is spent.”
The women expect to cause quite a stir as they drive their motorised three-wheeled rickshaws along Ripon Road, Skipton Road and Wetherby Road to the Macmillan-run cancer centre.
Edwina said: “We would love people to come out and cheer us on and, hopefully, donate to our two charities. To see a child or a young person suffering from cancer is really hard. That’s why every penny that we raise on this challenge will go to help kids and teens, so the more people that we can reach on our journey, the more money we can raise to fight this terrible disease.”
They aim to cover 1100 miles in 16 days, driving at an average speed of 20 miles an hour for six or seven hours a day. The journey, starting at Carlisle on Tuesday, May 2, sees them visit cancer centres and hospitals in Edinburgh, Newcastle, Harrogate, Cambridge, London, Merthyr Tydfil and Manchester.
It is almost three years to the day since Edwina and Kate, calling themselves the Beijing Biddies, drove from the UK to the Chinese capital in just 29 days for the two cancer charities. Last year they were joined by Helen and Liz plus Kerrie Ellison to drive from Carlisle to the Arctic Circle with no overnight stops, completing that challenge in four days.
Edwina said: “The Tuk Tuk challenge is perhaps our craziest yet. These little Tuk Tuks are great fun but they take skill and a lot of concentration to drive them as we intend to – all day and to a strict timetable.”
Natasha Patel, fundraising manager for Cancer Research UK, said: Our scientists and nurses look forward to welcoming the Beijing Biddies team at Cancer Research UK centres during their epic Tuk Tuk trek. The money they raise will allow Cancer Research UK’s doctors, nurses and scientists to advance vital research which is helping to save the lives of boys, girls, men and women in Cumbria, Yorkshire and across the UK.
Sue McDonald of Macmillan Cancer Support said: At Macmillan, we are thrilled to continue our involvement with the Beijing Biddies. The forthcoming challenge will really test their mettle whilst raising much needed sponsorship to help cancer patients who often find every day a challenge!
For more information, or to sponsor them, visit www.beijingbiddies.co.uk or follow them on Twitter @BBiddies.
