The British Eventing Support Trust is proud to be one of two charities benefiting from the upcoming Scone to Burghley Cycle Challenge, an ambitious fundraising effort that will see four riders cover more than 600km in just three days.
The challenge has been organised by four men with strong links to the equestrian and eventing world: Andrew Ransford (AKA Mr Hiho Silver), Henry Kinchin, owner of equestrian photography business First Class Images, Thomas March and Alastair Wilson. Together they are taking on the ride to raise money for Riders Minds and the British Eventing Support Trust, helping both charities continue their vital work supporting people across the equestrian community.
The quartet is taking to the roads to raise money for Riders Minds and our work here the British Eventing Support Trust, and we couldn’t be prouder of them. Riders Minds provides mental health support to anyone in the UK equestrian industry, and we’re here for British Eventing competing members when they need us.
Demand for our services and expertise has risen by 38% this year alone, and that’s both fantastic news and brings a big challenge for our team. More people getting in touch to ask for support means that event riders know that we’re here and what we do, which is hugely encouraging. But as more people ask for our help, that means we need to raise more funds to be there for them. Our support ranges from advice and guidance after an accident or injury, providing specialist rehab and physio and financial assistance, to mental health services.
That’s why, as both awareness and demand grow, we’re asking our supporters to step up and help us raise the funds that mean we can carry out our work. We’re grateful for every single pound that’s raised and count ourselves lucky to have a loyal and dedicated following who help us spread the word and raise vital money. That might be by sharing posts on social media, arranging fundraising events at yards, coming to one of our course walks or previews, bidding in auctions and coming to one of our events. And, of course, people who undertake incredible physical challenges and ask their supporters for donations to show their support! And that’s precisely what Andrew, Henry, Thomas and Alaistair are doing…
The four cyclists (followed by their support crew) will set off from Scone Palace in Perthshire at midday on the final day of the horse trials Sunday 30th of August, and begin their 600km journey to Burghley Horse Trials near Stamford in Lincolnshire. The aim is to complete the ride in just three days, so that they arrive in time for the first horse inspection for the 5* event in the afternoon of Wednesday 2nd of September. That means they’ll be covering around 200km a day… The team are hard at work training for their challenge, and we’ll be sharing more details as we get closer to Scone Palace Horse Trials and the start of the ride!
If you’d like to get behind the cyclists and help raise money for our work and that of Riders Minds, you can donate and leave them a message! Just click here to take a look and donate what you can to two very good causes. Make sure you keep a close eye on our social media channels between now and the event for updates, and we know you’ll join us in wishing the team the very best of luck as they prepare to take on this mammoth challenge!