Remembrance bikers present veterans with £2,000

Veterans In Communities receives £2,000 from the organisers of the Ride of Respect

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Bikers who rode the length of the M60 sporting a red t-shirt to create a poppy chain raised £2,000 for a veteran’s charity.

The Ride of Respect - Ring of Red on Remembrance Sunday saw almost 1,700 bikers and trikers lining up at Birch Services.

Members of Veterans in Communities, VIC, the event’s chosen charity, were also in attendance.

Jeanette Kiely, who organises the North of England ride, said: “We chose VIC to benefit because we know of the work that the charity does in the M60 area, in particular in Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale.

“We raised the money by collecting donations and through the sale of specially printed T-shirts and sales from our online shop.”

VIC Operations Manager Bob Elliott said: “We are delighted with how much was raised and it was an amazing day.

“It was an honour for our charity to be chosen and if we can support the organisers in the future we will be happy to do so.

“We attended the event and were there early on when there were just 20 or 30 bikes at the service station and we watched as more and more arrived until there was more than 1,600.

“It was very emotional to see all of the bikers and our Crew Van provided an amazing vantage point to photograph the scene.”

VIC is based in Bury Road and works with armed forces veterans and members of the emergency services throughout East Lancashire and Rochdale, Middleton and Heywood.