SUFFOLK ADVANCED
MOTORCYCLISTS

St Elizabeth Hospice Motorcycle Run

The 2010 Run Is Coming Soon

Did you enjoy the 2009 charity run? Perhaps you missed it. Looking forward to the 2010 run?

Well the date has now been set for 2010.

Put the 9th May, 2010 in your diary/schedule/PDA etc. and then bookmark this page. The form to get yourself registered will be available here once the preparations are complete.

Let's make the 2010 event even bigger and better, and raise even more for this worthy cause.

The 2009 Run Presentation

The money raised by the run, a fantastic £6,500, was recently handed over to the Hospice representative Patsy Johnson by the organisers of the run, Rob Day and Derek Barker of Suffolk Advanced Motorcyclists, and Ray Walters, owner of Orwell Motorcycles in Ipswich.

Patsy Johnson (on bike), from St Elizabeth Hospice, receiving bags stuffed full of cash, some in the helmet, from Rob Day (left), Derek Barker (seated) and Ray Walters.

The 2009 Run

Sunday May 10th 2009 saw the first running of the St Elizabeth Hospice Motorcycle Run. The sun shone down, and motorcyclists from all walks of life, on all types of machines, from Suffolk and the surrounding area, descended on Orwell Motorcycles in Ipswich filling their parking area in preparation for the cavalcade winding its way to the SuffolkRide.Net motorcycle show.

When the event was first organised by Suffolk Advanced Motorcyclists, Orwell Motorcycles and the hospice, the plan was to have 250 motorcycles attend so that all the organisational bugs could be ironed out before attempting a bigger event in 2010. Well word of mouth, the sunshine, and a cause that has touched most families in some way soon altered that, and over 600 bikes turned up, keeping the organisers and the snack bar very busy.

With so many bikes taking part the proceeds were significantly increased from our target, and at the time of writing aprox. £6000 has been raised with money still coming in from people who got friends and family to contribute as well.

The ride through the country roads of Suffolk, and finally along the A14 to Felixstowe was greeted by many bystanders lining the route, waving and cheering the riders on their way. It was a fantastic spectacle to see, and a source of great postive publicity for motorcycling in general. Thanks must go to all those people who helped organise, marshal and park the bikes at Felixstowe, as without them the event could not have happened or run so smoothly.

We hope you all enjoyed yourself, and that you will take part again next year, bringing your mates on their bikes along to swell the numbers and proceeds.

Publicity & Media

SAM's Photo Gallery shows the bikes assembling in Ipswich

Please note the sites linked to below are not the responisibility of Suffolk Advanced Motorcyclists and are provided so that you can see the great publicity the event received.

Felixstowe TV have a nice little clip mainly about the Suffolk Ride motorcycle show, but the Hospice gets a mention from the Air Ambulance spokeswoman. You can also see the cavalcade riding along the A14 and arriving at Felixstowe's seafront.

Liz Ordinary's Blog entry, describing her first experience of an organised motorcycle charity run.

Mihai Georgescu's Photo Gallery of the Suffolk Ride Motorcycle Show.