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A
group of 85 riders left Box Hill on the bright but overcast morning
of Saturday July 7th 2001, bound for the People's Dispensary for
Sick Animals in Brighton. The PDSA had been a favourite charity
of Mary Eales, whose tragic death on 26th February 2001 had touched
a great many people.
The run
had been organised well in advance by Mary's partner, Gareth Dew,
in association with West London Mag, and when it came to the day
there was no shortage of volunteers to help at every stage of the
way. Many local as well as national businesses donated some excellent
prizes so that a raffle could be held, which turned out to be very
popular.
Lead by Gareth, the procession departed from Box Hill at 10:00 and
rode through picturesque West Sussex countryside south from Dorking.
We arrived approximately an hour later to fill the PDSA's car park
and receive some interesting looks from local press and residents!
The PDSA's Les Crawley introduced the riders to a couple of four
legged residents, explaining that they are 100% charity funded and
receive no support from either the government or the national lottery.
This proved a big hit with the participants, who made generous donations
and bought yet more raffle tickets right up to the point where it
was drawn by Gareth and vocally assisted by Aje from the Celtic
Warriors. PDSA staff were then presented with a cheque for £1,502.04
in the name of The Mary Eales Fund amid hearty applause and cheers
from the crowd. As a surprise gesture, Gareth was handed an album
containing many pictures of Mary, collected by her closest friends.
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