Fundraising bike ride for Fibro Flare Awareness Group

WESTBURY local, Gary Coward, joined work colleagues last month to cycle 136 miles to raise money for a fibromyalgia charity.

The team, who work at  Herman Miller Melksham, cycled from Whitehaven to Sunderland on Sunday 14th July, raising awareness of the neurological condition fibromyalgia and raising £1,000 for Fibro Flare Awareness Group. 

The condition affects 1 in 20 people and causes many symptoms along with body wide pain and fatigue for those diagnosed. 

Gary and his colleagues, Stefan Kogut, Jason Webb and Charlie Robinson, followed tradition by dipping their rear wheels in the Irish Sea before departure from Whitehaven. 

Fourteen hours later having cycled through the Lake District and over the North Pennines, climbing the equivalent of Ben Nevis three times, the group arrived at Roker Beach, Sunderland, to a heroes’ reception and to complete their journey by dipping their front wheels in the North Sea. 

The team were welcomed by Julie Britten of Fibro Flare Awareness Group and family members who had secretly travelled to celebrate the team’s success. It was an event that challenged the stigma of a hidden condition, making the invisible visible. #OnYerBikeFibro