Renault Trucks is supporting SSAFA, the UK’s oldest national tri-service military charity, with Ride to the Somme 2017 (30th August – 2nd September) – a 200 mile bike ride to commemorate the cycling soldiers who fought and fell during the Great War.
In addition to providing a new Renault Trucks Master crew van and a Range T520 6×2 tractor unit to assist with logistics along the route, Renault Trucks has also entered a team of four riders from its Warwick headquarters into the event: Wencke Roovers and Alex Williams from Marketing, Sonica Dahri from the Legal Department and Retail Development Director, Ian Wrench.
Starting at the London Imperial War Museum in South London, the Ride to the Somme cyclists will head to France, visiting Arras and important historical landmarks along the upper reaches of the River Somme, into Flanders and reach their final destination, Tyne Cot, the largest of all the Commonwealth War Grave cemeteries where over 55,000 soldiers are remembered.
The event will end by attending the daily Last Post Ceremony at The Menin Gate in Ypres on September 2nd.
“All the Team Renault Trucks riders are novices, so tackling routes of between 50 and 80 miles a day will be a real challenge for us and our training has already started in earnest !” says Renault Trucks’ Marketing Communications Manager, Alex Williams. “We’ve been inspired by the stories of cyclists who volunteered for the Army Cyclist Corps during The Great War and their incredible efforts are keeping us motivated. SSAFA played a vital role in supporting servicemen and their families as they returned home from the front, and 100 years on it continues to help services personnel in need following conflicts. Its work is still so important today, providing lifelong support for our forces, and that’s why we’re getting on our bikes and putting in the miles.”
Team Renault Trucks is assured of encouragement from Commercial Director Nigel Butler, an experienced cyclist who completed the 300 mile Transaid Ride South Africa Challenge in March. He says: “Renault Trucks is delighted to provide vehicles and logistics support to SSAFA throughout the three day event, and we are all very proud of Alex, Wencke, Sonica and Ian for taking on this challenge – and all the training and preparation that this requires – as ambassadors of Renault Trucks to raise money for such a good cause.”
