Hotel boss Becky cycles 200 miles for colleague with cancer

 

* Wild Pheasant manager Becky Shields cycled 200 miles inspired by a colleague with incurable cancer.

The manager of a hotel in Llangollen completed a tough 200-mile cycling challenge to raise money for a cancer charity.

Becky Shields, who’s in charge at the Wild Pheasant Hotel & Spa, was inspired to take on the epic ride by a colleague, mum-of-two Fiona Sellars, who has incurable cancer.

While 70 other staff from the Everbright Hotel Group walked in relays from North Wales to Penrith, Becky, who lives in Oswestry, got on her bike and cycled all the way in aid of Breast Cancer Now.

After weeks of preparation and planning, the fundraisers were waved off from Everbright’s Belmont Hotel in Llandudno.

They visited sister hotels on their gruelling trek, including Llandudno Bay Hotel, The Wild Pheasant and Spa in Llangollen, Rossett Hall near Wrexham and Stone Cross Manor in Kendal, before crossing the finishing line outside the George Hotel in Penrith.

At every hotel during the challenge, the fundraisers were warmly welcomed by their colleagues.

The challenge was sparked by the determination of much-loved colleague Fiona Sellars, the group’s marketing and support manager, whose strength has left a lasting impression on those around her.

* Becky was spurred on by the courage of Fiona Sellars. 

Known to colleagues and friends as Fi, she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022 and has since undergone more than 50 rounds of treatment, including chemotherapy, immunotherapy and surgery.

Her resilience in the face of the incurable diagnoses became the driving force behind the ambitious fundraising effort which also marks the hotel group’s 10th anniversary.

Fiona, who lives in Appleby, walked the first part of the first leg to cheer the fundraisers on their way and she was there to complete the last mile of the final leg as the team of fundraisers marched through Penrith.

Becky has taken on fitness challenges before, including long distance cycles and trekking up Mount Kilimanjaro, and said the North Wales to Cumbria ride was up there amongst her toughest challenges.

She was accompanied at the start of the cycle by Everbright Hotels colleague Max Vander Heiden from Llandudno to Flint and then met her boyfriend Tommy Hunter further along the journey who accompanied her to the finish.

The riders had to contend with various weather conditions, and exhausting hill climbs too.
She said: “Max cycled with me for 55km, and good on him, because he was only going to cycle for a kilometre to get me onto the main road.

“I cycled by myself to about 125km and got caught in a thunderstorm and it was then I met up with Tommy, who was under a bridge hiding from the thunderstorm.

“The weather was really bad, you couldn’t see the potholes for the water, but we couldn’t stop because we would just get cold.

“There was a hill where the thunder started, and it was one of the biggest hills I had ever seen in my life.

“I have done some big hills before, but I haven’t trained as hard as I used to train, and when you’re trying to get up this big hill and you can hear thunder cracking above you, it’s horrendous.

“I was blue in the face, my lips were blue, my feet were numb, I was frozen and shivering. The weather on the final day was pretty good, it was sunny when we set off and stayed grey and cloudy.

“The challenge was the furthest I have ever cycled in one day, I have never cycled 100 miles before. As I got over the finish line I was just thinking about Fiona, it is all for Fiona.

 “Four of my colleagues at The Wild Pheasant walked 20 miles as part of the challenge, they did an amazing job, I am so proud they made it.”

Fiona paid special tribute to the company’s Adrian Barsby who walked the entire route, and Becky Shields, who cycled the full route.

She said: “Adrian is honestly amazing and for Becky to do the whole thing on a bike is incredible, it’s a remarkable achievement.”

Adrian, 66, said meeting members of the public on the way who donated to the cause and told the fundraisers about their own cancer battles was “absolutely humbling”.

Adrian said: “There were 17 of us taking part in the final leg from Shap, which was great, that really kept us all going. The support from throughout the hotel group has been wonderful.

“Our managing director Lei Ma has taken part in many of the legs, our operations director Darryl Shaw took part, and pretty much walked most of Lancashire with me, while operations manager Nic Rowland also stepped up to the challenge and was a great support.

“Catalin Oanea, our group operations manager, just got back from holiday and the next day was walking with me from Kendal to Shap and on to Penrith for the final leg. It really has been a team effort.

Everbright Hotels operations director Darryl Shaw, who took part in six of the 10 days of the challenge, said: “It has been very humbling to meet so many people who have told us about their own cancer battles.

“All those who took part in the challenge, in whatever way they supported it, can be hugely proud of their efforts.

“The way our colleagues have rallied round to back this fundraising initiative has been absolutely remarkable.”

Managing director Lei Ma took part in four of the stages, including the start and finish. He said: “To take part in this was absolutely amazing. I am so glad so many of our colleagues were able to get together and I am so proud of the team.”

Colleagues who didn’t take part in the actual walk and cycle also did their bit to contribute to the fundraiser by organising various money-spinning initiatives.

* A JustGiving page has been set up for the charity challenge, which has a £10,000 target.  
People can donate to the fund by visiting https://justgiving.com/page/everbright10yrbreastcancernow