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Why? More a case of why not!

NATS has two major staff sites: Swanwick (near the South Coast) and Prestwick (near Glasgow).  While the offices are separated by 500 miles, we are very much one team and what better way than to show our unity and challenge ourselves than taking up the crazy idea of cycling from one site to the other to raise money for charity.

So, starting on 31 July, we are cycling from Swanwick to Prestwick. We will cover the 500 miles over 5 days, ably assisted by our colleagues’ acting as a ‘road support team’.

But there is so much more to this than just a cycle ride!

Each year we are always keen to give something back and we take on a number of events to contribute to the NATS recognised charities and others that have a personal meaning to people; in our case the British Heart Foundation, Ayrshire Hospice and the Fareham Food Bank.

British Heart Foundation – Over 40,000 premature deaths in the UK are caused by cardiovascular disease. BHF are fighting the disease through world class research, keeping more hearts beating.

Ayrshire Hospice – The Ayrshire Hospice provides outstanding quality care and services to help people with life limiting illness, they aim to make today better for the patients.

Fareham Food Bank – In the last 12 months the basics bank has provided over 1630 food parcels, feeding the equivalent of more than 3200 people. They also provide support for rough sleepers

As a team we always look to stretch ourselves, be that in work or in activities like this. There is a great team spirit and when someone suggests something then very quickly people rise to the challenge and make it happen. Last year it was "Tough Mudder", but this year we’ve taken it to an entirely new level, both physically and logistically. For a lot of us the challenge started with having to buy a bike; so it was an expensive January and starting to ride a road bike for the first time in winter is not the ideal start. Similarly, squeezing into our lycra gear whilst maintaining any sense of dignity is a challenge.

So when it comes down to it, I blame Sarah and Iain for suggesting it and the rest of us for being mad enough to agree and then making it happen.

We appreciate that NATS has lots of fundraising events for various charities, but we hope you can appreciate that this will be an extremely tough and gruelling challenge for the team to endure in support of some very worthwhile causes.  We’ve set ourselves the mammoth task of raising £2000 for each charity, so please dig deep, tell your friends and family and share this JustGiving site.

We will share the challenge website soon, but meanwhile if you want to see the training in progress including crashes and injuries then please follow @Wicksquared (Twitter) or add WickSquared (Facebook)

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