The Gloucestershire Group of the national club, the Trail Riders Fellowship have raised more than £1,755 for Great Western Air Ambulance.
Alex Hinch and Rory Atkins used the Group’s Facebook page to organise trail rides last month, where riders gave a donation. They also used JustGiving to gather other donations from TRF members.
Alex said: “Great Western Air Ambulance brings hospital-level skills and equipment to the patient, and can travel very rapidly. They cover Gloucestershire, South Gloucestershire, Bristol, B&NES, North Somerset, and parts of Wiltshire. On average they attend 5 incidents every day. If needed, they can reach more remote parts of the countryside, and attend all types of serious incident involving walkers, horse-riders, cyclists, motorcyclists, construction workers, farmers, and many more. As a charity they need to raise £4m each year to keep flying.”
TRF Gloucestershire Group Joint Chair, Mark Holland helped hand the cheque over at the meeting place for the trail rides, the Jolly Nice Farmshop & Kitchen beside the A419 between Stroud and Cirencester.
He said: “Compared with other recreations, we are in a tiny minority so there is much misunderstanding. Trail Riding by motorcycle is exploring Green Roads – simply roads that have escaped tarmacking and are unsealed. Because these are roads, the riders and their trail motorcycles need to be road-legal. Riders go out in small groups, and follow the TRF Code of Conduct.”
Mark added: “The local Group also works tirelessly behind the scenes to sustain Green Roads for everyone to enjoy. We are delighted to help to support the local Air Ambulance, but trail riding has a very low accident rate, so we hope that we will rarely need their services but are pleased to help to keep them available for everyone.”
