amazing team of ordinary blokes (big and small fat and thin) at Rolls-Royce Inchinnan is celebrating a magnificent decade of charity fund-raising – and looking to bring their total up to £150,000.

It all started in 2006, when Paul Burke persuaded nine colleagues to cycle from Edinburgh to Howwoood – a distance of 70 miles – and raised £2,000 for a local nursery.

Next was another bike ride, from Edinburgh to Port Glasgow (75 miles) in aid of Yorkhill Sick Children’s Hospital, where a colleague’s daughter was being treated. The team of 17 raised £7,500.

The 2009 challenge was to cycle from Inchinnan to the Heads of Ayr and back, a total of 108 miles, with Yorkhill again the chosen charity. 21 team members raised £12,825.

September 2010 saw the Five Ferries Challenge. This was a physically challenging task, cycling the islands on the Firth of Clyde and catching the five ferries that connect them – all against the clock. 23 cyclists took part this time and all made it back safely raising £10,755 for Alzheimer’s Scotland. Several of the team had relatives with Alzheimer’s, giving them extra determination to help the fight against this terrible disease.

In 2011 came the toughest challenge yet - the West Highland Way. 20 team members took part, with half cycling the route over three days and the rest walking it over four days. The fund-raising this time was for Children’s Hospice Association Scotland (CHAS). The hardest and most poignant moments of the challenge came when the team visited Robin House Hospice to present their donation of £27,714 to CHAS. It was a cold Saturday morning, but the team found nothing but warmth and happiness within Robin House.

2012 saw a canoe ride up and down Loch Lomond – 54 miles over two days. 18 brave souls collected a further £21,256 for CHAS.

CHAS again benefited in 2013 – this time by £20,790 – when 18 volunteers took the “Beat the Borders Challenge”. This included a 40 mile cycle ride followed by a 10 mile run (or walk).

In 2014 the team decided to support a different cause, and chose Inverclyde Down’s Syndrome Support Group because one of the team had a granddaughter with the condition. A team of 20 cycled the 56 miles round the island of Arran and then climbed its highest peak, Goat Fell, raising £13,247 in the process.

For 2015 it was back on the water, with a two-day canoe trip along the Forth & Clyde and Union canals from Glasgow to Edinburgh. Inverclyde Down’s Syndrome Support Group was again the chosen charity, receiving £15,217.

Total raised for good causes so far: £131,304.

For the tenth anniversary the challenge is to take the total over £150,000. It’s back to Loch Lomond, with 12 volunteers walking 26 miles clockwise and eight cyclists cycling 77 miles anti-clockwise to meet them. 

Then there is me! Earlier this year I ran the first half of the West Highland way in 13 hrs.  Now I'm going to run to the drover  via the west Highland way in 12 hrs. Total distance of 85 km  with over 2000metre of ascent 

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