Chilly Willy’s getting bigger
Huge support for air ambulance rideout
More than 800 riders braved the January cold in to take part in a charity rideout to raise thousands for the air ambulance charity.
The tenth annual Chilly Willy took place on Sunday, January 7 and saw 823 riders on all types of motorcycle assemble at a new starting point: The Waterside Café, Northampton.
From there, the group rode en masse to Bromham, Bedford, on the A428, back to Chicheley on the A422 and up through Olney on the A509, before returning to the café on the A428 – a trip of around 35 miles.
More than £6600 was raised on the day itself, with donations since boosting the figure towards £10,000. During its 11 years (the run was cancelled in 2021 due to Covid) the popular event has raised almost £35,000 for the Air Ambulance Service which covers Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Warwickshire, and Northamptonshire.
There are now plans to grow the event even further for 2025, with organiser David Purvey telling MCN: “To be honest, this rideout was the best one yet.
“We chose the new venue, The
Waterside Café, which proved very, very popular, we’re even talking about things we can do next year to make it even better, trade stands for example, branded gear, a few more toilets!”
He continued: “We had 823 on the ride, but a few turned up just for the occasion, so we were probably 840 to 900 bikes altogether. The marshals did a fabulous job of keeping everyone safe and secure.
“We did a rider briefing advising people of do’s and don’ts, did a couple of shout-outs for those that had come the furthest – a couple had come from Norfolk – and then we were off.
“We modified the route slightly for this year, we had lots of crowds waving us by, we got the Mayor of Olney on board, which was really good, and then we had an ‘after-ride’ catch-up with a presentation of the cheque to the charity.”
‘To be honest, this rideout was the best one yet’