Former Holbeach United star Tommy Treacher and friends raise £10,000 for King's Lynn hospital
A group of six friends have raised more than £10,000 for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn after a 100-mile cycle ride on Saturday.
Ex-Holbeach United FC players Tommy Treacher and Matthew Warfield were among those who battled rainy conditions as part of the fundraiser.
The cycle, which covered 100.77 miles and lasted more than six hours, was primarily organised by Gareth Franklin. Friends Jeremy Hargreaves, Lee Wright and Steve Cousins took up the remaining spots.
Tommy (34) says the group were inspired to raise money as they all have some sort of link to the hospital, with Gareth’s sister working there.
“It’s a hospital that everybody knows and we’ve all had dealings with it, so we just thought it would be a great cause,” he said.
“Obviously it’s close to me as well, everybody’s going to know someone who’s been there.”
The friends had to fight through challenging weather as they cycled, with heavy rain falling throughout the ride.
“Obviously we couldn’t have picked a better day for it,” Tommy joked.
“I think people appreciated it more, us doing it in that weather than they would have on a sunny day.”
Atrocious weather hasn’t affected the attitude of Tommy and the others, who say they will look to do more charity work in the future.
“I think we probably will. It’s just obviously getting together again and getting our heads together and choosing which charity.
“Especially with the year we’ve had and with Covid. Obviously we’re really pleased with how much we’ve raised.”
After completing their cycle, averaging a speed of 15.9 miles per hour and burning nearly 4,000 calories each, the group posed for pictures outside the hospital.
Tommy will be a familiar face to supporters of Holbeach United, for whom he enjoyed several successful spells. These included a two year spell in which the club won three trophies – including the 2012/13 United Counties League title.
Matthew Warfield enjoyed success with the club too, recently working for the management team as a senior member of the squad.
