The Flo Riders Charity Cycle first happened on Oct 13th 2018 in support of World Squash Day. 20 riders set out and, in spite of a late time of year and some adverse weather conditions, all 20 riders finished. With massive support from the clubs involved, in total £5165 was raised.

This year we are going to start a little earlier in the year and reverse the route so we do the hardest leg early. Let’s go!

About Florence’s Heroes – Charity Cycle Aug 17th 2019

The Flo Riders Charity Cycle is in aid of Florence’s Heroes, a charitable fund set up by Chris and Sarah Wheat. Their story is below:

Florence was born just over 6 weeks early in 2015, weighing in at a little over 3 lbs. She was immediately admitted to the Neonatal Unit at Colchester General Hospital. At only a few days she was diagnosed with Hydrocephalus (a build-up of fluid on the brain) and then not long after that her Congenital Heart Defects. In total, she spent the first 104 days of her life in 3 different hospital

There are 3 services in her journey so far that we are so indebted to and thus “Florence’s Heroes Fund” was born. It is our pledge as a family to fund raise in various ways, not for Florence herself but for these services to enable them to go on helping other children.

1. Neonatal Unit at Colchester General Hospital – the care Florence received during her long stay on this unit was exceptional. As a family, we remain thankful to this team every day for everything they did for Florence.
2. Acute Neonatal Transfer Service (ANTS)– this is a regional service that specialises in the transportation of sick babies. They have 2 ambulances for the whole of East Anglia. Every shift each ambulance is manned by a driver, specialist neonatal nurse and doctor. They are equipped with a transportable incubator and with every possible piece of equipment that a sick baby may need. This is a 24 hour, 7 days a week service. In total Florence travelled with them 6 times in 3 months.
3. Royal Brompton Hospital – there are few hospitals in the world that have the skills and expertise to perform open heart surgery to repair defects on a tiny 2 month old baby weighing only 5lbs. This hospital is world class and without whom Florence would not be with us today.