22 FARM NEWS AUG / SEP 2022 • farmers-mart . co . uk
Mull to Hull : Farming Boys cycle ride raises nearly £ 20,000 … so far !
Chris Berry talks with Eddie Rook & Billy Hosdell in East Yorkshire
A group of Yorkshire farmers and farming business guys got together to raise what has turned out to have been a fantastic amount for charity this summer .
Mull to Hull was a 420-mile cycle ride that took place in July raising funds for Cancer Research , MacMillan Cancer Support and FCN ( Farming Community Network ).
One of the group who was acting as support party was Holderness man Billy Hosdell who had developed stage 3 cancer that had seen him having surgery in September last year and having 30 courses of radiotherapy and chemotherapy in November and December last year .
Farmer Eddie Rook of Weighton Wold Farm , one of those who cycled the route , said the motivation for Mull to Hull came as much from the desire to do something for charity , as well also ‘ bringing the band back together ’ of guys who enjoy meeting up for a drink every now and again , many of whom were students at Harper Adams .
“ Everyone has had some connection with this awful disease . Another of our group , Guy Shelby , had seen his sisterin-law Zoe Rawson go into Castle Hill with breast cancer at the same time as Billy . Fortunately , both are recovering but it brought it home to all of us that things are suddenly closer to home than they were .
“ Seeing what these guys were going through urged us on to get our fingers out and do something and that ’ s how Mull to Hull began to take shape . We thought the title sounded good and we began planning .
Billy said the only aberration was finding out at the first stop that thy had purchased sparkling water instead of stilled , but that it made the coffee and tea a bit lively !
Amazingly , Billy managed to cycle a fairly big stint one day too , taking over from one of the riders and pays tribute to the rest .
“ Three of the seven that started pedalled every single mile in the five days – Tom Watson , Guy and David Selby
– and Eddie did all but 57 miles when he had to take time out having pulled his Achilles tendon .
The Mull to Hull riders were Richard Morley of Thorpe le Street Eggs and Pantry in the Paddock ; Tom Richardson of Warrendale Wagyu ; Matthew Richardson of Agrii ; Eddie Rook of Weighton Wold Stabilisers ;
Guy and David Shelby of Shelby Farming ; and Tom Watson of Cundalls . The riders had a support crew of Billy , Ed Cooper from Ireland and Rich Panton .
Billy said the total raised so far , that is still being added to , now stands at over £ 19,000 . If you would like to contribute visit : www . justgiving . com / team / Mull2Hull
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