Cyclists including Lizzie Deignan MBE, Alex Dowsett, Pfeiffer Georgi and Dani Rowe MBE have helped to raise a staggering £290,000 for children’s charity Action Medical Research at the annual gala fundraising event – the Champions of CycleSport Dinner.
This year’s event saw Next Generation riders Leon Atkins, Noah Hobbs and Henry Hobbs join forces with established legends Sean Kelly, Sean Yates, Stephen Roche and Malcolm Elliott, to show their support for the charity.
Yanto Barker, Rochelle Gilmore, Matthew Holmes, Jon Mould, Hannah Walker and Connor Swift completed the epic line-up at the Royal Lancaster London on Wednesday 20 November 2024, hosted by the legendary presenter and commentator, Marty Macdonald.
The event was supported by Garmin, who make products that are engineered on the inside, for life on the outside, accountancy and business advisory firm BDO LLP, Lifeplus, a holistic wellbeing company who formulate and manufacture high quality nutritional supplements, sports nutrition and personal care products. We welcomed our new Drinks Sponsor ERDINGER Alkoholfrei who provided its isotonic, sporty thirst-quenching drink for guests.
Among the 550 guests on the night was father, Action supporter and Head of Marketing at Garmin, Jack Fairbrother.
Jack spoke passionately about his support for Action and his son Lando, who was diagnosed with a critical heart defect and serious kidney condition before birth and had to be born extremely prematurely and experienced many challenges:
“I am honoured to support the Champions of CycleSport Dinner and the life-changing work of Action Medical Research. In 2022, my wife and I learned that our baby, Lando, had a critical heart defect and needed to be born three months early. Lando weighed just 2 pounds and spent weeks in an incubator before we could hold him for the first time. Over the next 18 months, he underwent four major surgeries, including three open-heart procedures, and spent five months in hospital, mainly in intensive care.
Thanks to the incredible care he received and the amazing work of organisations like Action Medical Research, Lando is now a thriving, fearless and extremely cheeky two-year-old who loves riding his bike, just like his dad! I’m very proud of Garmin’s partnership with Action and grateful for the hope they bring to families like mine. Without work from charities such as Action, I don’t think Lando would be here today. Thank you for supporting this incredible event, which makes such an important difference.”
Action Medical Research is the leading UK-wide children’s charity dedicated to funding research to tackle the diseases that devastate the lives of so many of our children. The charity funds a wide range of research including projects which aim to tackle the devastation caused by premature birth, as well as research to help children with heart conditions and kidney disease. To find out more, visit www.action.org.uk/research/research-we-fund.
To find out more about the event, as well as the work that Action Medical Research does, visit www.action.org.uk/champs.
Download a selection of images from the event here.