Participants in the 2019 Prudential RideLondon events raised an amazing £11.5 million for charity, bringing the total raised for good causes to more than £77 million in the first seven years of the world’s greatest festival of cycling.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “My congratulations go to everyone who helped raise this fantastic sum for charity at the 2019 edition of Prudential RideLondon. Their efforts will help some great causes make a real difference to people’s lives.”
Denise Turner-Stewart, Surrey County Council’s Cabinet Member for Community Safety, Fire and Resilience, said: “Once again it was great to see such a fantastic fundraising effort from all the riders that took part in 2019 raising money for some wonderful charitable causes.”
Mike Wells, Group Chief Executive of Prudential, said: “I would like to thank all the riders who took part and helped make this another fantastic year for fundraising. Prudential RideLondon is the world’s greatest festival of cycling, and to raise more than £77 million in seven years for good causes is an incredible achievement.”
British Olympic champion Dani Rowe, who was raising money for the 2019 Charity of the Year the British Heart Foundation, rode side by side with thousands of cyclists of all ages and abilities in the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 sportive. “It was absolutely amazing, riding on such iconic roads, and safe roads, with so many fans out on the road, cheering us. I was just buzzing all the way round.”
Liam O’Reilly, Fundraising Events Programme Lead, British Heart Foundation, said: “Our partnership saw 440 British Heart Foundation (BHF) riders take on 100 miles raising just under £300,000 for the Miles Frost Fund. This money will help the BHF roll-out even more genetic testing for families at risk of inherited heart conditions and support vital research into improving diagnosis and treatments of deadly inherited heart conditions.
“To date, the Miles Frost Fund has raised an incredible £1.5m, which funds genetic nurses and counsellors to identify and treat more families with inherited heart conditions such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). The BHF now have a total of 13 sites delivering cascade genetic testing, and have identified 517 patients with HCM; helping save lives and keep hearts beating.”
Nikki Barraclough, Executive Director Prevent Breast Cancer, Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 46 Charity of the Year, said: “It was a huge honour for Prevent Breast Cancer to be chosen as the first official charity partner for Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 46. It gave the charity a wonderful platform to raise awareness on a national level, while raising funds for our ground-breaking research into the prediction and prevention of breast cancer. It was also a fantastic experience for everyone involved and we cannot thank our cyclists enough. The event raised over £122,000 for our research, which will take us one step closer to a future free from breast cancer.”
Alzheimer’s Society raised more than £450,000, making the charity the most successful fundraisers from the event. Macmillan Cancer Support and Prostate Cancer UK were among the many other charities that raised six-figure sums.
Kiera Ridge, Senior Events Fundraising Manager, Alzheimer’s Society, said: “We’ve had another successful year with nearly 550 Alzheimer’s Society riders taking on the challenge and raising over £450,000. Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 is a hugely popular event with our supporters and has been a great vehicle for us to raise huge sums to fund our work, with 2019 being no exception.
“With almost a million people living with the condition, dementia is the biggest health challenge society faces today. We urgently need to find a cure, improve care and offer help and understanding for people affected. Our team of riders and their generosity have played a huge role in this and we look forward to another successful year in 2020.”
