Staff at Flexlife, an oil and gas industry specialist in Subsea Project and Integrity Management, are set to cycle to Edinburgh in aid of Monty's Maggie's appeal in August.

The challenge will see 22 members of Flexlife’s staff, from both the Aberdeen and Newcastle offices, cycle a total of 372 miles over three days via the north and south Coast and Castles routes in a bid to raise a minimum of £20,000 for the charity.

The Aberdeen group will follow the coast south passing through historic sites such as Dunnottar Castle before crossing the Firth of Forth into Edinburgh, with the Newcastle group cycling past world famous historical sites including Lindisfarne and Bamburgh Castle before reaching the capital.

Maggie’s are currently working on building new cancer care Centres in both Aberdeen and Newcastle. This will add to the charity’s network of 11 current Centres and mean that over 2.5m additional people can access this successful service. In the two population centres, there is a staggering combined total of 15,500 new diagnoses of cancer each year.

Sarah Niddrie, Commercial and Strategic Development Manager at Flexlife and chairperson of the company’s charities committee, said: “At Flexlife we feel very strongly about putting something back into the local communities in which we live and work - as a company we really do want to make a difference.”

“Everyone seems to have someone close to them who has endured the pain of cancer, myself included. Due to Monty's Maggie's appeal being such a fantastic charity working closely with Maggie’s centers to help those affected by cancer, it’s a real privilege to be able to support the work they do.

“For many of us, this will be the first time we’ve cycled in years so training has been essential – some of us even endured the pain of spinning classes in preparation. I’m quite sure there will be lots of gritted teeth by the time we get to Edinburgh!’’

“We chose to cycle to Edinburgh in two teams, one from Aberdeen and one from Newcastle, as that is where our UK bases are located but also because of the strong Maggie’s presence in both cities.”
Maggie’s is about empowering people to live with, through and beyond cancer by bringing together professional help, communities of support and building design to create exceptional centres for cancer care.
Sharon O’Loan, Scottish Campaign Director for Maggie’s, said: “The tie up between Flexlife staff in Aberdeen and Newcastle is a perfect fit and the company will play an important role in bringing both of our new Centres to fruition. It is even more poignant that the teams will meet up in Edinburgh as this was where Maggie’s started over 15 years ago with Maggie Keswick Jencks’s vision to create a place which helped patients and their families live the best life possible at any stage of cancer.”