The team outside the Duchy of Cornwall
TEAM DUCHY 10 + ALFIE
A Duchy team of 10 will embark on a challenging bike ride from St Austell to Barnstaple in July and hopes to raise £ 10,000 for children’ s hospices
The team is made up of the members of the Duchy of Cornwall plus family members and Celebrating Poundbury’ s Editor Miriam Phillips. The Race for Precious Lives ride is raising important funds for Children’ s Hospice South West and the team will be riding from hospice to hospice throughout the three-day challenge.
TEAM DETAILS – Team Duchy 10 + Alfie, by Christine Walsh The name says it all. Team Duchy 10 + Alfie, which took us all longer to decide on than it did to take part in the event! The reason for this, a moment of madness by all of us who have agreed to take part in a 205 mile bike ride, is easy to explain. Alfie Ezra Sanders who, whilst only with us for a short time in this life, made such an impact on us all. Against all odds, Alfie’ s family were blessed with his arrival on 15th September 2014. From this day, his mum and dad and his siblings, together with his extended family and their friends, ensured that the life he had was filled with love, kindness, care and hope. He in turn gave them an opportunity to love him and experience a total acceptance of the perfect gift that Alfie was. They say that giving a beautiful present is a way of telling someone he or she is loved. Alfie’ s time with everyone became a wonderful gift to everyone around him. Alfie defied predictions in that he lived for over a year, and the fact that he did was truly remarkable. The love and care given to him by family and friends was given in equal measure by the staff of Little Bridge House in Barnstaple, one of a number of Children ' s
Hospice South West( CHSW). Not only did they provide care when he was alive but they also supported the family through his death and beyond. As you can now appreciate, saying yes when Alfie’ s grandad Keith asked if we’ d all like to take part in this bike ride was an easy answer to give. So, on 6th, 7th and 8th July 2018, Team Duchy 10 + Alfie will be keeping each other company as we take part in the CHSW Ride for Precious Lives 205 mile charity ride. The ride commences at their St Austell hospice and finishes on the first day at their Little Bridge hostel in Barnstaple. The second day sees( by now saddle sore) assembled riders leave Barnstaple to rise up onto Exmoor, finishing in Taunton for the second overnight stop before proceeding up through Cheddar Gorge. On the Sunday afternoon, they will arrive at their third and final hostel near Tyntesfield for a welcome rest and BBQ. As for the riders, some of you will know one of us, some of you will know a few of us, and a few of you will know all of us! Most of us work for the Duchy of Cornwall, a few of us are married to a member of the Duchy of Cornwall crew and two of us are friends of the Duchy of Cornwall team! None of us are proficient bike riders( and at least four of us have actually had to go out and buy a bike so that tells you just how new to it we all are!) but we do however have two things in common – a fierce determination to try and raise the £ 10,000 target set, together with a hope to just be able to say we finished and survived the course!
TEAM MEMBERS Keith & Michele Sanders are the first of two husband and wife teams and Alfie’ s grandparents. Whilst their son completed the course in 2017 in double quick time, they are not aiming to follow firmly in his tyre tracks! David & Christine Walsh are the second husband and wife team and the first to be swept up in the moment of madness. They also have the title of grandparents ‚ so will see just finishing as a major achievement! Peter James is a former rugby player( over 30 years ago it has to be said, until bad knees ended an illustrious career) who will be quietly competitive on the day! Ben Murphy is predicted to finish at least a day ahead of the rest of us but Ben is adamant the rumours of his athleticism are wholly unfounded! Greg Walsh is the youngster of the group who will want to ensure that he reaches the finishing line before his parents! Whilst he still may not be able to beat his dad at table football, this could be his chance of glory in the cycling stakes! Heather Bayston is Scottish, so used to climbing hills but not on a bike! Bob Brady is a keen leisure cyclist who is already well ahead with training( according to Heather anyway). Miriam Phillips is a supermum and Poundbury champion, and the second youngest member of the group. She’ s very keen to show her two young boys that their mum can do tricks on her bike too! And just one last thought which was spoken to his parents at his funeral:“ Alfie may not have had‘ a life’ here on earth but you have given him an eternity …”
HOW TO SPONSOR We are working towards a £ 10,000 target so we’ d be really grateful for sponsorship. You can sponsor by visiting http:// bit. ly / Duchy10
WWW. CELEBRATINGPOUNDBURY. CO. UK 9