Moto staff raise hundreds of pounds for wounded heroes

One of Britain's largest providers of motorway service areas have helped to raise thousands of pounds for wounded heroes, it has been revealed.

Staff from Moto raised an extraordinary £22,000 after cycling 15,584 kilometres as part of this year’s Hero Ride.

Employees from 45 Moto sites across the country spent two weekends participating in the Hero Ride: The Moto Challenge.

This was done in solidarity with the 100 wounded veterans who collectively covered 18,500 miles in this year’s Hero Ride.  

One of the staff members who took part in the event was veteran Justin Henderson, who rode with the 100 on Hero Ride.

A freak accident left Henderson with a broken back and limited mobility while he was stationed in Germany with the Royal Logistics Corps.

However, he now works part time at the Help for Heroes Recovery Centre Phoenix House, Catterick, after his fractured L5 vertebra was replaced with a prosthetic vertebra.

Speaking about the event, Henderson, explained: "At the time of my injury, I never thought I’d be on a bike today, never mind taking part in such a massive cycling challenge! What a great two weekends. 

"The first weekend was fantastic; I got to fundraise with the team for their Moto static ride challenge and clocked up 144 miles. On the second weekend I was fundraising for my own Hero Ride and completed 180 miles. The Moto family took me under their wing and made me feel very welcome.”

Chairman of The Moto in the Community Trust, Brian Larkin, said that he hopes that the static bike challenge will become an annual event.

He added: "We are delighted with the Moto Hero Ride Challenge and very proud of all the Moto staff around the UK that took time out of their busy jobs to take on the challenge. We wanted to find a way that our staff could support the Help for Heroes Hero Ride and our static bike challenge did just that and engaged our customers too."