Tilnar Cycle Challenge Press Release – July 2015

The first annual Tilnar Cycle Challenge which was set up by the Fair Trade supplier, Tilnar Art, took place on 20th June 2015 and was an outstanding success with over £10,000 being raised for charities across the UK through entry donations and personal sponsorship. The Challenge inspired people around the country and across the world to get on their bikes and see how far they could cycle in a day.

The premise of the challenge was simple to INSPIRE people to see how far they could cycle in one daybetween 6 am and 9 pm for charity. The Tilnar Cycle Challenge raised money directly for Cancer Research UK and Porridge and Rice, who support children in the slums of Nairobi, by donating £9.00 of each £12.95 entry fee to the charity selected by the entrant. Porridge and Rice was picked as one of the Tilnar Cycle Challenge’s chosen charities, as Tilnar Art purchases many of its ranges from Kenya and it wanted to raise funds for a charity supporting the communities where Tilnar Art buys its products. The challengers also had the opportunity to raise sponsorship for their own favourite charity. The Challenge was a great success in its first year event especially considering that it was only launched in March 2015 and received no national media coverage. It had 100s of entries and generated £1,000s more for charities across the country in sponsorship. To put this into perspective only 60 people entered the London to Brighton Bike ride in its first year….

The Tilnar Cycle Challenge inspired riders to cycle further than they had every cycled before and the stories received from many of the 2015 challengers are truly inspiration. One of the challengers, Kevin George, cycled over 100 miles in attempting to cycle from Great Ormond Street to Newport whilst raising funds for Great Ormond Street. Another challenger, John McGrath, was so inspired by the Tilnar Cycle Challenge, that he set himself the challenge of cycling a mile for every £1 he raised in sponsorship since May when he decided to enter (he had cycled over 700 miles since May when we last spoke). The furthest distance ridden by a lady challenger was 150 miles (70 miles further than she had every ridden before) and the male Hall of Fame champion cycled 216 miles in the day. The Tilnar Cycle Challenge inspired riders to enter across the world and challengers took part in Switzerland and Zimbabwe! Please look at our website and Facebook page to read about some of the inspirational stories that we are already receiving and to watch our videos.

The Tilnar Cycle Challenge was the idea of Tom Hawes, a keen cyclist and the owner of the Fair Trade supplier, Tilnar Art, who spent 3 months dedicated to creating the Tilnar Cycle Challenge . Tom was thrilled with the success of the event in its first year and said, “After the huge success of the first Tilnar Cycle Challenge and the inspirational stories and positive feedback we have received, we are sure the challenge is going to keep growing into an inspiring sporting event that will raise tens of £1,000s for charity over the coming years.” A number of the shops that Tilnar Art supplies got involved in the Tilnar Cycle Challenge as shops and cafes can become bases for the challenge. One of the shops, Justicia from Bolton, that Tilnar Art supplies, got involved in the Challenge and the owners, Martin & Jackie, rode 130 miles between them and raised over £1,000 in sponsorship for The Esther Benjamin’s Trust, a charity helping rebuild schools after the earthquake in Nepal.

Tom, himself was inspired to ride 150 miles on the day, nearly 50 miles further than he had ever ridden before and it even inspired his 3 and 5 year old daughters to cycle 2 and 7 miles respectively and like all the other challengers everyone is determined to cycle further next year. Tom hopes that the inspiration stories and the opportunities for retailers will mean many more will Get Inspired by and Get Involved in the Tilnar Cycle Challenge next year.

Attached pictures & posters and for your reference.

For more information including videos and testimonials in the 2015 Review Section, please visit look at Tilnar Cycle Challenge on Facebook

Contact: Tom HawesEmail:

Tel: 01277 362 815Mob: 07740 946 518