INEOS employees in Grangemouth took on the global challenge of cycling all 21 stages of the Tour de France and raised £2000 for the West Lothian Cycle Circuit.

By combining cycling for pleasure and daily commutes, employees from across the world, including those in Grangemouth, matched the distance ridden by the professional cyclists during each of the stages of the 2019 Tour de France.

Five teams of employees from INEOS Chemicals, INEOS FPS and Petroineos took on the event and raised £10,000, with £2000 of that donated to the Cycle Circuit. The five teams cycled a massive 20,107km in total.

Terry Banham, HR Director for INEOS at Grangemouth and member of one of the teams said: “This has been a fantastic effort across all three INEOS businesses based at Grangemouth. The combined effort of our employees to commit to cycling the stage distance every day during the Tour de France competition will see a significant donation to local charities.”

“Not only have we raised this huge amount for charity and good causes, but for some participants the Tour de France Challenge has encouraged them to take up cycling for the first time in many years.”

Matthew Ball, Board member of Linlithgow Community Development Trust said “We are so grateful to the staff at INEOS for taking on this mammoth cycling challenge and donating £2000 to the West Lothian Cycle Circuit. Our project will get more people cycling and create a more sustainable, healthier, happier and better connected community. This Donation will take us a step closer to achieving our goal”

The West Lothian Cycle Circuit has received a donation of $1275 from The Cycling Podcast.

The circuit was chosen as the Podcast’s ‘good cause’ during this year’s Tour de France and benefited from funds raised by the sale of Stacy Snyder’s cups to listeners of the podcast.

Podcast presenter Richard Moore said “We have tried to pick good causes on both sides of the Atlantic, partly because the maker of the beautiful cups, Stacy Snyder, is from Virginia and also because a lot of our listeners are in the US – and a lot of the nominations are for good causes in the US.”

“The West Lothian Cycle Circuit appealed to us for lots of reasons. A big one is that it will help young cyclists, but it’s also in a part of the world that I know well, having grown up on the western side of Edinburgh and done most of my training as a young cyclist on the roads of West Lothian.”

“For a couple of years, before becoming a journalist, I also worked as an administrator and fundraiser for the West Lothian Youth Theatre, an incredible organisation that ran workshops and projects throughout the area. I also served on the board after stopping working there. Through that, I got to know the place and also the people, especially the young people.”

Linlithgow Community Development Trust Board member Matthew Ball said “It was so exciting to hear the circuit discussed on the podcast, listened to by a global audience. We are so grateful to the Cycling Podcast for selection our project and to Stacy Snyder for making and selling her beautiful cups which were inspired by the Tour de France.”

Stacy Snyder said “I love everything about the project especially the objective of creating a more sustainable, healthier, happier and better connected community. I hope these funds will get the project one step closer to reaching your goal.”

More details
http://www.stacysnyder.com
https://thecyclingpodcast.com

Last week we were were filming at the site of the proposed cycle circuit with Alan Corrie from Images above.

Alan captured this stunning view of where the cycle circuit will be built at Xcite Linlithgow.

We’re really excited about the photo because it’s the first time we’ve been able to show where the cycle circuit will be located in reality.

Our goal is to get more people, of all ages and abilities, riding bicycles. The 6 meter wide, 1km tarmac circuit, will be floodlit and fenced, it will be the perfect venue to build confidence on two wheels and start your cycling journey.

Many thanks to Alan for working with us. We’re busy putting the finishing touches to a promo video with Cameron Mason which will be released shortly

Alan specialises in drone photography, find out more about his work at https://www.imagesabove.co.uk

We’re looking for your views! What are your (and your family’s) cycling habits? What would a safe traffic-free cycling facility in Linlithgow mean to you? 

Fill out this 2-minute survey by Monday 5th August to be entered into a free prize draw!

https://s.surveyplanet.com/Rx-G6CRIU

We are very grateful to Kinross Cycling Club for donating £500 to the West Lothian Cycle Circuit.

Generous contributions like this from the cycling community help us get a step closer to realising our vision of building a traffic-free tarmac cycle circuit in the Central Belt.

Thank you very much Kinross CC!

West Lothian Clarion, Edinburgh Road Club, Livingston CC and The Tom Anderson Fund have also supported the fundraising campaign by making generous donations.

We would very much welcome donations from cycling clubs around the country. Please get in contact with our project worker, Pamela Barnes, if your club can make a donation: pamela@trust-linlithgow.org.uk