A group of Year 11 pupils from The Queen’s School got on their bikes to raise funds for charity, inspired by the personal experience of one of their classmates.
The annual HQ ride, this year from Holyhead to Chester, raised funds for CLAPA, a charity that exists to support those people affected by cleft palate and one that the family of Year 11 pupil Zoe Thornton-Reid relied on heavily following her birth.
Zoe, 16, of Wrexham said: “We chose to support CLAPA because I was born with a cleft palate and this charity aided my parents by providing them with special feeding bottles and teaching them about the issues they would face and what it meant. I saw this as an opportunity to give something back to CLAPA.”
After weeks of fitness and safety training the girls set off on Tuesday, July 5, on their journey from Holyhead through Blas Lynnon, Menai Bridge, Bangor, Penrhyn Castle, Aber Falls and Conwy Castle before following the route back to the city.
The girls soon discovered that each leg of the journey held its own special challenges.
Zoe said: “The first section of the ride was challenging, with numerous inclines, which felt more like mountains, fortunately this also gave us numerous downhill slopes.
“Day two marked the morning that we realised the extent of our sunburn! I had a rather unfortunate sunglasses burn line, many had ‘man tans’, sock lines and our cycling shorts had given us a rather nice band of red on our thighs.
“The final day was met with hope, as we could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel! To our delight on our arrival back at school we were greeted with music and cheers, as Qfest was in full swing.”
The girls have so far raised £1,220 for CLAPA and their JustGiving page is still open for those wishing to make a donation.
Zoe added: “I believe I speak for everyone when I say I will treasure the memories I made on this ride forever, but maybe not the sunburn or muscle ache!”
To sponsor the girls please donate to CLAPA via justgiving.com/teams/HQ2016
