NORTHERN retailer Booths is planning an epic cycle ride to raise money for Cure Leukaemia between May 24-28.

Inspired by the Tour de France, Chief Operating Officer Nigel Murray has gathered a team of over 50 people from colleagues to suppliers, who will ride 600km across the north of England, calling in at all 27 Booths shops - including the Ilkley store - as well as three support sites and two cancer treatment centres.

Eight riders will ride the full tour, coming from a wide range of abilities, ages and roles at Booths from suppliers, accountants, fishmongers and customer assistants.

Nigel - a keen cyclist - became aware of the charity after hearing about patron Geoff Thomas, a former England footballer who was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia in 2003.

He was initially given three months to live, but thanks a stem cell transplant from his sister Kay, he went into remission in 2004 and has since ridden the Tour de France route four times and this year’s ride will be Geoff’s fifth and final tour. Nigel will join him and 23 other amateur cyclists this summer to complete the gruelling tour with the aim of raising £1million pounds for the charity.

Nigel said: “We first did the Tour O’ Booths a couple of years ago, and it was a great experience. The reason for doing it is threefold. It’s an event to motivate you to keep active, it brings together different parts of the business from colleagues to suppliers in a team-building exercise with the added motivation of raising funds for charity, which this year is Cure Leukaemia.

“After a hugely challenging year for our teams at Booths the tour is a chance to come together in a shared cause. This ride isn’t just about the cyclists—everyone from the Booths team can share and support in the tour. We have a team of runners running a stretch of the Preston Guild Wheel and a support team to keep us all on track.”

Booths stores will be holding a range of activities, raffles and fundraisers to help raise valuable funds for Cure Leukaemia and cheer on the team as they complete their epic journey.

Blood cancer remains the third biggest cancer killer in the UK with approximately 38,000 people diagnosed and 14,000 losing their lives to the disease every year. The funds and awareness raised through Tour O’Booths will help Cure Leukaemia to continue to support life-saving blood cancer clinical trials through the Trials Acceleration Programme (TAP).

Cure Leukaemia fund research nurses and clinical roles at 12 blood cancer centres across the UK. These roles form the Trials Acceleration Programme (TAP) network giving patients access to pioneering and potentially life-saving treatments through clinical trials.

It is hoped that the funds raised in the 2021 Tour O’Booths will fund two research nurses to administer the trails to find a cure for blood cancer.