Michael Fabricant got to have a go on Fiona Gillespie’s electric bike on Friday (8th February) when he thanked her for raising over £1,400 for South Staffordshire’s Cruse Bereavement care. “Cruse offers free one-to one support to bereaved people, including children who are often most affected, but find it difficult to express their grief” says Michael. “Over 60% of referrals to Cruse are made by local doctors which demonstrates how important this charity is to complement the local health services. The service is free to recipients and specialised training is required as the bereavements can include death from a range of causes, including illness, accidents, suicide and armed forces deaths. It’s a wonderful service and Fiona has been amazing raising this money with her electric bike”.

Fiona explained, “Everyone has been very generous and it’s been a good opportunity to remind people about the great work our trained volunteers do, supporting adults and children through their grief after someone close has died, sometimes in tragic circumstances. After Christmas can be an especially difficult time. ‘The support is offered free of charge so we need to raise funds on a continuing basis.”

Part of the bike ride challenge was to guess how long the battery charge would last in hours and minutes. Fiona didn’t give any hints about how she would ride the bike, and guesses ranged from 50 minutes to over 12 hours. In fact, the bike trial near Tissington lasted 1 hour and 26 minutes.

Pictured on Fiona’s bike in Beacon park is Michael Fabricant who supports South Staffordshire Cruse Bereavement Care locally.