Official charity of the UK licensing industry, The Light Fund’s Bristol to Dublin bike ride fundraiser launched on Monday 11 June with a £5,000 donation at Aardman Animation’s Bristol Studios.
The event – which is the charity’s biggest fundraiser to date –is a four-day bike ride spanning the 325 miles from Bristol to Dublin. Some 65 licensing executives from across the UK industry will be taking part, including Ian Hyder, one of the founders of The Light Fund and director at Max Publishing, parent company behind both Progressive Party Europe and PartyWorldwide.net.
Ian presented a cheque for £5,000 to Anna Shepherd from Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal. The Wallace & Gromit characters were also on hand for the celebration, together with Aardman’s head of licensing Rob Goodchild, who is also taking part in the cycle event.
The bike ride starts today (Tuesday 12 June) and aims to raise at least £150k for The Light Fund. The monies are being raised through both corporate sponsorships and personal fundraising.
Since its launch in 2004, The Light Fund has donated over £1 million to charities such as Alzheimer’s Society, The Children’s Trust, Bliss and Challenge Africa.
“It has taken 18 months to plan, but the 2018 Light Fund Cycle Tour from Bristol to Dublin has brought together the UK licensing industry like never before,” said Ian.
“There will be top industry players riding alongside junior execs, all tackling the hills together, while the rest of the industry is giving us their support via sponsorship. We are confident we’ll smash our target of raising £150,000 and all of that money will go to good causes.”
