To help support the Bike to Care Bordeaux initiative please go to the Just Giving page here.
At last year’s event over €200k was raised before the ride began
On May 8 and 9 over 100 cyclists from around the world will converge on Bordeaux with one aim – to raise over a quarter of a million Euros in support of young chefs and sommeliers. Teams of 8 or 10 from a variety of countries will take part in Bike to Care Bordeaux and cycle a 200km course to raise money for their local hospitality charities and scholarships.
This year, as with 2022, the money raised by the UK team will go to Hospitality Action UK which helps those people in the hotel and restaurant industries who are struggling with physical, financial, mental health and addiction problems, and helps them get back on their feet again. Each team has chosen a different charity which benefits those within different areas of hospitality.
For example, three teams from the USA are taking part this year and the charities they have chosen include RE:HER, plus scholarships aimed at young sommeliers and aspiring African American chefs; the Belgian team of sommeliers and chefs has chosen to support an association that creates hospitality opportunities for vulnerable groups; a Netherlands team has selected Voedselbank an umbrella organisation for 172 food banks; and a French team is raising money for the Association Jean-Claude Vrinat which awards scholarships for those trying to enter catering.
An initiative born from a brainwave
Bike to Care is an initiative originally dreamed up and led by Maison Louis Jadot and its UK agent Hatch Mansfield after having witnessed the emotional and financial impact that COVID had on colleagues within the pub, restaurant, hotel and catering industries. The idea was then embraced by a large group of Bourgogne wine producers who made last year’s event happen. So successful was Bike to Care en Bourgogne that Châteaux Haut-Bailly and Lynch-Bages have rallied a large group of châteaux to make a ‘second edition’ happen this year in Bordeaux. Teams have to ride two 100km courses through the Médoc and Pessac-Léognan across two days and take part in other events with well known personalities from the wine industry.
Mark Calver (r) and executive chef Richard Davies, Bike to Care en Bourgogne, 2022
The UK team has a variety of personalities from hospitality industries that include: Richard Ball and Richard Davies from the Calcot Collection; Joanne Taylor-Stagg from the Athenaeum Hotel; Nicholas Davies from the Langham Hotel; Rob Flinter from the Park Plaza Waterloo Hotel; James Hiley-Jones from Greenclose Hotels; along with journalists Patrick Schmitt, John Stimpfig and The Buyer’s Peter Dean. As with last year, Hatch Mansfield has underwritten all the costs of the UK team so that every penny raised will be spent on those in need.
Hatch Mansfield director Mark Calver and regional sales manager Aaron Turner are leading the team and stress how important the event is in raising vital funds for Hospitality Action UK.
Calver says: “The hospitality industry is a huge industry employing huge numbers of people. These people are like all of us, they all have problems from time to time and an industry wide support body like HA is critical. It’s there in the difficult times to help people get back on their feet again.”
Turner adds: “I’m delighted to be taking part in an event that combines two of my favourite things, cycling and wine, but also raises money for charity. The sheer size of the hospitality industry and the number of people it employs means that sadly it is necessary to have a charity dedicated to those working within it.”
“The scale of support provided, and the issues that HA addresses, are so broad reaching that it provides those who have spent their careers putting other people first with the reassurance that there will be someone there for them should they ever need it. The effects of the pandemic and the new world we live in are still majorly impacting hospitality, and thankfully HA are there to help those who are struggling the most, whatever the issues may be.”
To find out more details on Bike to Care Bordeaux please click here.
To find out more details on Hospitality Action UK please click here.
To help support the Bike to Care Bordeaux initiative please go to the Just Giving page here.
