Latics fans' cycling adventure to raise charity funds

This will be the third charity bike ride that the team from Latics 2 Amsterdam will have organised.

The charity was set up by Latics fans John Heeley and Peter Mulqueeney, who first rode to Amsterdam in June 2015 and raised more than £6,000 for their cause.

They set off from Leyton Orient’s Matchroom Stadium and finished at The Amsterdam Arena, home of Ajax.

Off the back of this success, Peter and John expanded their team to 13 riders and set about doing it all again the following year. This time they organised numerous fundraisers along the way, such as race nights and a glitter ball, and managed to raise more than £20,000 by the time they reached the finish line.

“The idea behind it is that every rider aims to raise £1,000,” said Peter.

A charity spokesperson said: “The group had undergone a rigorous training schedule to fully prepare themselves both physically and mentally for the event.”

In 2017 the team are planning to do it all again but this time, according to the charity website, they aim to ‘be even bigger and better, raising even more money for such a worthy cause.’

“This year we aim to get about 50 riders all together,” said Peter.

He also commented on the noticeable increase of riders from the north. “Prostate cancer UK arranged a northern route to Amsterdam from Barnsley, which doesn’t sound as glamorous but we will actually set off from the DW Stadium which comes to 205 miles in total,” he said.

“We’d like to invite anybody who’s interested to join us next year – we need everybody we can get.”

Throughout the remainder of this and next year, Peter and the team will be holding many more fundraisers. A big one will be a casino night that will coincide with Wigan’s last home game against Leeds United on May 6 at the DW Stadium. To sponsor the team and help them to reach their £75,000 target, visit www.latics2amsterdam.co.uk and to help share their cause visit @Latics2A on Twitter.