HUNDREDS of participants from the UK’s built environment sector will be taking to two wheels this May to raise vital money for the Yorkshire Children’s Charity and its Great Yorkshire Build 2023 project through a charity cycling sportive.

Starting from a hub in North Leeds, the event will take place on Thursday 18 May, to coincide with the return of the UK’s Real Estate Investment & Infrastructure Forum (UKREiiF) to the city centre for a second year.

The UKREiiF conference aims to connect people, places and businesses to accelerate the levelling up agenda while unlocking sustainable and inclusive investment across the UK – and a recent report from social value specialists Loop showed that the 2022 conference generated more than £1 million in social value.

100% of sponsorship and entry fees to the event will go to the Yorkshire Children’s Charity, which was founded with a clear mission to ensure no child or young person is left behind due to ill health, disability or financial circumstance. The funds raised will go towards its Great Yorkshire Build.

The Great Yorkshire Build scheme allows the charity to deliver state-of-the-art school facilities, creating environments within which staff feel re-energised to teach and children are excited to learn.

 Annabel Robinson, head of events at the Yorkshire Children’s Charity, said:

“All children have the right to the very best education, and school facilities play a huge part in this. Sadly, we have experienced first-hand that much of the school stock across Yorkshire is outdated, insufficient and inadequate – something that our Great Yorkshire Build project seeks to tackle.

“We have excellent connections with the UK’s built environment industry, with organisations across the region being incredibly supportive in both fundraising and lending their time to the build schemes. We’re incredibly pleased and grateful to be chosen as the benefactors of this fundraising event, which will help to deliver the spaces that our young people deserve to give them the best start in life.”

The UKREiiF Charity Cycling Sportive co-organisation and co-sponsorship is equally supported by: Gardiner & Theobald, Hexa Consulting, Hoare Lea, MODA, Overbury, Quod, RBA, DLA Architecture, Vinci and Walker Morris, for which both Hexa and the Yorkshire Children’s Charity are extremely grateful. All stakeholders are looking forward to an excellent day’s cycling raising money for a fantastic local charity.

Richard Osbond, director at Hexa, which has supported in co-organising the event, said: “Yorkshire is a really special place to live, work and exercise, and it’s fantastic to have Leeds host the UKREiiF conference for a second year.

“UKREiiF will gather thousands of people from across the UK property industry, which gives us the opportunity to come together create change for people in the region. A staggering number of children in Yorkshire live in poverty and Yorkshire Children’s Charity is a fantastic organisation that concentrates its efforts on families who have specific additional needs, providing the support where the system just doesn’t provide. Together with our sponsors and participants we will work to raise as much money as we can through the event for local people.”

The UKREiiF Charity Cycling Sportive co-organisation and co-sponsorship is equally supported by: Gardiner & Theobald, Hexa Consulting, Hoare Lea, MODA, Overbury, Quod, RBA, DLA Architecture, Vinci and Walker Morris, for which both Hexa and the Yorkshire Children’s Charity are extremely grateful.

The cycling fundraiser has been designed with multiple distances to suit all levels of cycling ability, from 60km to more than 100km. For more information or to register for the event, please visit https://ridethestruggle.com/products/ukreiif-sportif .