Each of the six colleges (Belfast Met, Northern Regional College, North West Regional College, South Eastern Regional College, Southern Regional College and South West College) put forward a team for the cycling challenge. The teams included experienced cyclists, as well as some first timers and they all represented their respective campuses with distinction as they travelled between campuses to pass on the baton to the next college.
Economy Minister Gordon Lyons MLA was at Northern Regional College’s Newtownabbey campus to cheer on the College’s cyclists. They accepted the handover baton from their Belfast Met counterparts before setting off on their journey to Coleraine, calling campuses in Ballymena, Cookstown (South West College), Magherafelt and Ballymoney along the way.
The Colleges’ cycling challenge for Air Ambulance NI will help provide valuable financial support for a vital regional service at a time when the health service faces enormous pressures in the wake of the recent pandemic. With donations still coming in, over £5,000 has already been raised.
The success of the event serves to highlight the collaboration and collegiality between the six FE colleges as they work together to make a positive impact to their local communities.
Minister for the Economy, Gordon Lyons MLA said: “I was delighted to visit Northern Regional College’s Newtownabbey campus to see first-hand the fundraising efforts by college staff. Our local FE colleges are a force for good in so many ways, acting as skills engines to help people better themselves and improve their life chances, through high quality training and qualifications that can lead directly to employment, and of course, college staff are central to this. To see them give their time and efforts to this cause is therefore no surprise at all and I commend everyone involved for helping raise funds for Air Ambulance NI.”
Mel Higgins, Chief Executive and Principal of Northern Regional College, said: “The response from our staff and students to our charity cycle for Air Ambulance NI has been fantastic. Our ‘Further Education 400’ cycling challenge was really well attended and a wonderful experience for everyone involved.
“All six of our colleges were thrilled to be raising money for a truly worthy cause with the Air Ambulance NI providing a vital regional service and we are thrilled that £5,550 has been raised by our cycle which will go some way to keep the service operational.
“I would like to thank all of our staff who trained and participated in ‘Further Education 400’. They have trained for months to take on the cycling challenge on Friday, and it is a real feat that has been accomplished both physically and charitably by the college teams.”
Damien McAnespie, Fundraising Manager at Air Ambulance NI said: “We were delighted to have teamed up with Northern Ireland’s Further Education sector for their ‘Further Education 400’ charity cycle through all of their campuses.
“As a service we rely heavily on charitable donations to keep the medical team in the air, delivering critical care to patients who have suffered trauma throughout Northern Ireland – without continued support, the team simply couldn’t fly.
“The money raised through this charity cycle will make a significant contribution to the £2 million we need to raise annually to keep the air ambulance operational.”