To mark the 75th anniversary of the NHS in 2023, cycling clubs in Kingston have joined forces to raise money to support the staff at Kingston Hospital.

From Saturday 25th February club members from seven local cycling clubs will be taking on the Ride for 75 challenge to raise money for Kingston Hospital Charity, which is seeking to raise £35,000 for a new secure bike storage facility for hospital staff.

Tim Lawn, Chairman of Kingston Wheelers, one of the clubs set to take part, said: "As a club, we are really proud to be helping Kingston Hospital Charity and to support the staff that do such a fantastic job."

Many of the staff rely on cycling to get to work and the current facility is not a secure unit which has resulted in regular reports of stolen bikes.

The new secure unit will be available to all hospital employees and will include 78 bays for bike parking, which will be available 24 hours per day for staff on shift work.

Tracey Shaw, Fundraising Manager at Kingston Hospital Charity says: "We're incredibly grateful to Kingston Wheelers and the cycling community for organising this event to celebrate our NHS milestone birthday. A safe and secure bike unit will make a huge difference to our staff, many of whom are exhausted as they cope with huge patient-backlogs. Projects like this could not happen without the support of our community so a heartfelt thanks to everyone involved and supporting the event."

The challenge is open to everyone and will launch on 25th February with an event on the virtual cycling platform Zwift. People can join the challenge to ride 75 miles virtually in a group, which will be live streamed on social media. 

From 9am to 5pm there will be host riders from the organising clubs in the ROBOPACER rides in the WATOPIA world on Zwift. 

Group 1: Yumi on the Tick Tock route (faster, 2.9wkg)

Group 2: Miguel on the Triple Flat Loops route (slower, 1.8wkg)

All riders are encouraged to wear the Sigma Sport kit and have RIDEFOR75 as part of their on screen name.

Cyclists are also being encouraged to create their own version of the challenge, whether that's riding 75 miles for the first time, or lapping Richmond Park on a Boris bike.

Individual donations can be made on the Kingston Hospital Charity page.

The participating cycle clubs are: Epsom Cycling Club, Kingston Wheelers Cycling Club, London Dynamo, New Malden Velo, Surrey Cycling Club, Velosport Cycling Club and Waldy Wheelers.