Biking event cancelled due to Covid-19 crisis
THIS year’s Great North Bike Ride has been cancelled because of the coronavirus crisis, organisers have confirmed.
The annual event, which was due to take place on August 30, is the biggest fundraiser for the Chris Lucas Trust, a charity that funds research into childhood cancer.
It was started in memory of Wallsend teenager Chris Lucas, who died of rhabdomyosarcoma at the age of 18 in 2000.
More than 1,000 people normally take part in the 60-mile bike ride from Seahouses to Tynemouth, and this year would have marked the 20th anniversary of the event.
However Chris’s parents, who organise the ride, made the decision to cancel it due to the “uncertainty and fluidity surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic”.
Lynn Lucas, Chris’s mum, said:
“Social distancing requirements have made it virtually impossible to operate this year’s event safely for everyone involved. “We have been following the situation closely and have taken the difficult decision to cancel the GNBR for 2020, with as much notice for those taking part, as possible. The support and fundraising efforts of all concerned is consistently amazing but it is vital that we only undertake the event when it is absolutely safe for us to do so. The health, safety and wellbeing of all involved is of utmost importance to us and that is why we have taken the decision to cancel the event for 2020.”
She added that it had not been possible to reschedule the ride to another date later this year. Instead, it will be planned for August 2021 and it is hoped next year’s event will be even bigger.
Lynn said: “Additionally, we shall be posting regular updates on our social channels and sharing ideas with regards to training and fundraising efforts.
“This is a devastating blow to us, as a charity organisation, not only emotionally but financially, and as such we would like to encourage people to keep up their hard work and efforts, for which we thank them enormously.”
More information is available on the Great North Bike Ride’s website and Facebook page and also at http://www.chrislucastrust.com/
The health, safety and wellbeing of all involved is of utmost importance to us
Lynn Lucas