Staff from Billingham firm Doornbos Equipment will be calling on some “Dutch courage” when they take on a charity bike ride from Holland back to their UK headquarters on Teesside.
Three staff from the 80-year-old firm, which specialises in water jetting and vacuum equipment, will ride 150 miles from the company’s head office in Rotterdam in a bid to raise £5,000 for charity.
They will be joined by at least six friends as they pedal for pounds in the three-day Tour de Branch challenge to raise funds for Middlesbrough’s Zoë’s Place Baby Hospice.
Zoë’s Place provides palliative, respite and end-of-life care to babies and infants up to the age of five suffering from life-limiting or life-threatening conditions.
The challenge will be led by Steve Buxton, UK depot manager for Doornbos, who has always tried to help Zoë’s Place after growing up close to the hospice in Normanby.
He’ll be joined on the challenge by Doornbos colleagues, operations manager James McCullagh and Steve’s son, apprentice jetting engineer Jack Buxton, along with friends, Michelle Ball of Northern Skills Group, Matthew Johnson of Avant Homes, Thomas Harding, Gary Gorman, Robert Kitching and Chris Raper.
They have already been promised sponsorship from generous customers, suppliers and the local community.
Steve said: “For years now, we have supported Zoë’s Place by taking part in their golf days and It’s a Knockout challenge but this will be the biggest test yet”.
“As soon as we were given the brief of their Tour de Branch campaign, I knew we had to take part and cycle from our head office in Rotterdam.
“At the moment, there are nine people cycling but we hope we’ll get a few more to join us, even if they just join us for a leg of the overall ride.”
The Doornbos team are now in training for the event, which starts on Sunday June 9 and features an overnight ferry journey from Rotterdam to Hull and another stop-off in Scarborough.
To help support Doornbos reach their £5,000 target, please visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/teamdoornbos.