Queen Eleanor Cycle Ride from Lincoln to London raises £12,000 for Friends of The Connection at St Martin-in-the-Fields

A group of cyclists completed a 200-mile cycle ride between Lincoln and London at the weekend (August 23 to 25) to raise money for charity.

Twenty cyclists took part in The Queen Eleanor cycle ride, led by Keith Wright from Braceborough, and raised £12,000 for Friends of The Connection at St Martin-in-the-Fields' homeless charity.

The three-day cycle ride began in the city of Lincoln and visited all 12 Queen Eleanor Crosses on the way to Westminster.

The memorial crosses were put up by King Edward I in 1290, shortly after the death of his wife Queen Eleanor.

They were built at the site of each overnight stop of the funeral procession, including in Stamford.

The cyclists endured three nights of sleeping on hall floors and temperatures of up to 33 degrees as they rode through the English countryside.

Over the weekend they stopped at Sheep Market in Stamford in order to take pictures with the 'spike', built to echo the original Stamford Cross.

Their other stops included Grantham and Geddington, where one of the three surviving crosses still stands in the centre of the village.

The group is now close to reaching its £15,000 target for the charity which helps vulnerable homeless people in Central London. The number of people sleeping rough in London rose by 31 per cent in the last year.

Keith Wright said: “As someone who doesn’t need to worry about having a roof over my head nor food to eat, I am very proud to be able to support those who go out and help homeless people to rebuild their lives.”

Donations are still being taken on www.virginmoneygiving.com.

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