A team of cyclists from Tong Garden Centre have raised thousands of pounds for Yorkshire Charities as part of a challenging 80k ride.
In May, the team of 15, including directors, staff, suppliers and friends, set off from Slingsby near Malton in North Yorkshire. Taking on the hilly route over the North York Moors including the highs of Blakey Ridge and the lows of Rosedale valley, the team were able to raise over £6,500 along the way for West Yorkshire mental health charities, ‘Luke’s Lads’ and ‘Butterflies Mental Health’.
Tong Garden Centre’s Managing Director, Mark Farnsworth said: “For the last few years we have put a team together to tackle the Tour de Yorkshire sportive which has sadly been cancelled again due to the pandemic. Having missed one year, we didn’t want to miss another, particularly as our charity this year is Luke’s Lads and sister group, Butterflies who support young men and women in the local area with mental health issues.
“Awareness of mental health has risen significantly over the last year and we were overwhelmed by the generosity of our supporters, both financially and in their feedback about the choice of charity.”
Based close to the village of Tong near Bradford, Tong Garden Centre occupies a 19 acre site and is one of Yorkshire’s biggest independent garden centres with 125,000 square feet of retail space.
The charity ride comes at a busy time for the popular business whose team were recently able to reopen the doors to their in-house dining areas, The Restaurant and The Mezzanine and welcome visitors back after the easing of lockdown measures.
The Tong team have also recently relaunched and rebranded their expanded food hall Hearty’s. Stocking a huge range of locally grown and produced products, Hearty’s also features an in-house butchery and bakery, selling a huge selection of meat and freshly baked goods alongside a range of deli products, pantry items, homemade pizza and puddings as well as frozen ready meals.
For more information visit on both the charities supported by the bike ride and the new food hall visit www.tonggardencentre.co.uk