HERE’S HOW THEY DID IT...

A GROUP of 10 JCB employees started the appeal ball rolling with a 129-mile coast-to-coast cycle ride from Barrow-infurness to Tynemouth. A team of 36 apprentices also built a one-off electric Loadall telescopic handler from scratch and gave it a distinctive vinyl wrap using the handprints of children from two Stoke-on-trent schools: The Ormiston Horizon Academy and St Margaret Ward Catholic Academy.

The machine has now been bought by UK plant hire company VP Plc. Other fundraising events included the JCB Sportive, a bike ride organised by the JCB Cycling Club which saw 250 cyclists ride either 70 miles or 70 kilometres for the appeal in the summer – a mile or kilometre for every year of Queen Elizabeth II’S reign. George Bamford, the club’s honorary president, also took part in the ride, which raised £10,000.