Take part in a global cycling event for charity this September

A Yorkshire healthcare charity will become the first ever fundraising partner of the UCI Road World Championships when it comes to Yorkshire next year.

Leeds Cares – the charity that works to improve healthcare services for people living in Yorkshire – will be the Official Fundraising Partner for the eight-day global sporting event which attracts some of the biggest names in cycling.

Leeds General Infirmary-born cycling star, Lizzie Deignan, is backing the charity and will become an ambassador for Leeds Cares.

300 places in the official sportive of the Championships – including 70 reserved for NHS staff – have also been guaranteed for people raising money for Leeds Cares, with every penny going directly to the charity.

It’s all part of Leeds Cares’ drive to raise much-needed extra funding which will go towards new projects with the NHS to help people from Yorkshire to lead healthier and more active lives. Leeds Cares’ existing projects have shown the importance of sport in the recovery process and how it can improve not only someone’s health but their confidence and social life.

The eight-day event will see some of the world’s best cyclists travel to Yorkshire for a series of men’s and women’s races, across age groups from Junior to Elite. Every day will see a start in different towns and cities throughout Yorkshire, with each finishing in the main competition town of Harrogate.

The sportive offers amateur and club riders the chance to ride parts of the same course as the Elite cyclists. Leeds Cares is also offering corporate teams the chance to get involved in the sportive, with a further 100 places (ten teams) available for Yorkshire firms.

Applying through Leeds Cares is the only way to guarantee a place in the cycling sportive as all other places for this anticipated sell-out event will be allocated through a ballot process which is due to open in March.

To find out more and sign up to the sportive see www.leeds-cares.org/UCI