Businesses from Bath lined up alongside members of the public to cycle more than 250 miles in 12 hours and raise much-needed funds for children’s charity, the Jessie May Trust.
Solicitors, bankers, accountants, surveyors and estate agents swapped their suits for Lycra as they tested their fitness and stamina at this year’s Keep the Wheels Turning sponsored static bike event, which was organised and hosted by St John’s Hospital. 
The event aimed to raise as much money as possible for the Jessie May Trust, which provides nursing care at home for children and young people with life-limiting conditions and their families.
Under the terms of the challenge, two bikes needed to be ridden constantly between the hours of 7am and 7pm, with each cyclist pedalling for 15 minutes. And while the focus was very much on having fun, awards for the male and female who cycled the longest distance were also up for grabs.
Solicitors and business services staff from the Bath office of commercial law firm Thrings were among taking part.
Managing partner Simon Holdsworth, a member of the firm’s cycling team, said: “The Jessie May Trust has a very simple vision, namely to ensure life-limited children have the very best quality of life possible and can exercise their right to live and to be cared for in their own homes with their families.
“Jessie May’s team of dedicated children’s nurses and nursery nurses provide that all-important specialist care, but the generosity of local people and businesses are vital to that support continuing. Keep the Wheels Turning is a fantastic event, and it was great to see so many people and businesses in Bath mount a static bike and pedal on behalf of such a wonderful cause.” 
Money raised by the people of Bath has already provided funds to pay for one nurse to care for eight children in the city, but the charity, which was established in 1994 and launched in Bath last year, is hoping to raise additional funds over the next year for a second Bath-based nurse.
Julian Withers, head of fundraising and communications at the Jessie May Trust, added: “We would like to say a huge thank you to everybody that has made Keep the Wheels Turning possible. We have been so humbled by the way the Bath business community and, indeed, the public have taken us to their hearts. The money raised from Keep the Wheels Turning will go straight to nurses supporting local terminally ill children at home.”
