Bank staff to tot up the miles in Tour de Pudsey

FIVE work colleagues are joining with 55 others from Lloyds Banking Group to ride the Tour de Pudsey in September to raise £150,000 for BBC Children in Need.

Liam O’Leary and Carl Woodfine-Jones, from Cardiff; Ali Rafik, from Caerphilly; and Mark Pask, from Usk, will be cycling more than 300 miles from Cardiff to the town of Pudsey in Yorkshire in just three and a half days.

Liam has taken part in several challenges before, including the Tour de Yorkshire, National Three Peaks 24 Hour Challenge and the Cardiff Half Marathon.

He said he is now keen to be involved in a new physical and mental challenge to raise money for BBC Children in Need.

Tour de Pudsey is one of Lloyds Banking Group’s signature challenges for its Charity of the Year partnership with BBC Children in Need.

Liam said: “I have been a keen cyclist for many years now but even so, the thought of some of the hills we will be climbing en route to Pudsey is quite intimidating. I am going to focus on the impact that our fundraising will have on BBC Children in Need to help motivate our team to complete the challenge together.”

Jonathan Rigby, from BBC Children in Need, said: “Their fundraising efforts never cease to amaze us and this challenge is no exception. The level of determination, endurance and positivity required to take on Tour de Pudsey will be no mean feat and we thank all of those involved.”