Fundraising work continues to help vital charity

The group from the Royal Oak pub in Wolverhampton have recently completed a challenge which saw 70 people walk, run, cycle or swim collectively the distance from Land's End to John O'Groats, then back to the Royal Oak, a distance of 1,111 miles.

The challenge lasted between March 18 and 25 and saw the group raise £1,800 for Midland Freewheelers Blood Bikes, with Royal Oak owner Terry Cole saying it was a great collective achievement by everyone involved.

He said: "It's great because everyone came together and were talking about how many miles we were doing and how many more there were to go and we had people we never thought would get involved doing so, coming up to me and asking to sign up.

"They'd tell me that they'd like to do a walk as they do a bit of walking and it's actually carried on, with people still going out, which I see on Strava as we've got a big Strava group and we can see what the people are doing.

"They're still going out and doing their walks and looking forward to the next challenge."

Mr Cole said the hard work was worth it for the Blood Bikes, which he said was a great service run by volunteers and vital for the NHS and worth the work for the effort they put in.

Having completed one challenge, the group of fundraisers are preparing themselves for a day of activity on June 22 with the Oakers Relay Day.

The day will see more than 200 people take on a challenge on the day, whether that's taking part in a football or netball tournament or engaging in a distance challenge around the region.

Mr Cole said: "As well as the tournaments, we'll have cyclists going out on a 40-mile ride, motorcyclists doing 100 miles, runners out on a 5K run and walkers doing a 10-mile walk, with everyone starting and finishing at the Oak.

"We'll all aim to be there at 5pm to get together, with the two tournaments taking place elsewhere and joining us afterwards.

"When we did this last year, we raised about £3,000, but we're aiming to smash that this year and if anyone is interested in taking part, then I would recommend they could down and talk to us about this.

"The Blood Bikers are a massive charity that don't get recognised because they are doing a normal job and put in the effort for something that could be vital for you and your family, so we want to do something that is fun for people and helps make them feel good."

To find out more, go to theoakchapelash.com