Published: 13 May 2024

What do you get when you cross a Yorkshire man, bicycle and ten whisky distilleries? The Big Welsh Ride Out, in aid of the Wales Air Ambulance.

A whisky enthusiast, Robert Richardson from Yorkshire, now living in Scotland, will be using touring Wales this month by completing a 400-mile bike ride for the all-Wales Charity.

Starting at Cardiff all the way to Holyhead, Robert will visit ten single malt Welsh distilleries and the four air ambulance bases – using these as his checkpoints.

Working as a mountain guide and leader, Robert has seen first-hand the incredible work of air ambulance charities across the UK.

He said: “I think all the air ambulances are amazing. Working as a mountain guide and a leader, inevitably, accidents do happen, and you need the air ambulance and mountain rescue and so on. I’ve been involved with rescues with the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance.

“I also trained as a geologist and during a field trip to Pembrokeshire in 2005 I witnessed one of my lecturers needing the Wales Air Ambulance’s help.

Wales Air Ambulance is consultant-led, taking hospital-standard treatments to the patient and if required, transferring them directly to the most appropriate hospital for their illness or injury.

It is delivered via a unique Third sector and Public Sector partnership. The Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service (EMRTS) supplies highly skilled NHS consultants and critical care practitioners who work on board the charity’s vehicles.

Robert says he “really respects the service and what the teams do, day in and day out” and cannot think of a better way to say thank you than raising awareness and vital funds.

This isn’t the first time Robert has taken on this type of challenge – having completed 2,500 miles across Scotland in 2022, raising money for Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance and Cash for Kids.

Robert said: “I was going to go to Ireland next and do the same, but someone I know from Wales said, you should come here and do the Welsh one - so here we are.

“The Welsh Big Ride is a shorter distance, but it is still quite hard. I had to shorten the time span to keep the challenge equivalent, with the same number of miles per week - so that is why it is going to be a one-week challenge for the whole of Wales.”

Most of the cycle challenge, he will be on his own, but he is hoping other riders will join him along the route, he says they can “just come and go, doing different legs.”

Members of the public can track Robert’s progress by following his Facebook page (Whisky Venturers) or via the live tracker on www.whiskyventures.co.uk.

Roberts continued: “The GPS on my bike links through my phone and my wife will be posting the link to keep people up to date of where I am. I have also set up a Just Giving page and would be really grateful of any donations.

“After the ride, each of the distilleries that is able to do so, will be donating a bottle of whisky and we have an auctioneer who will auction them off, commission free. The money raised from the auction will then be added on to the Just Giving page after the rally.”

Most of the challenge, Robert will be on his own, however he welcomes keen cyclists to join him for different legs of the challenge.

Wales Air Ambulance needs to raise £11.2 million every year to keep its helicopters in the air and rapid response vehicles on the road.

Elaine Orr, Regional Fundraising Manager for Wales Air Ambulance said: “Our fundraisers are incredible! Robert is travelling all the way from Scotland to do this week-long challenge in aid of our charity.“We are hugely grateful for his support, without people like him we really would not be able to hit our £11.2 million target each year. Our teams are looking forward to welcoming him when he travels to each of our bases and we wish him the best of luck for his challenge.”

If you would like to donate to Robert’s epic challenge, visit https://www.justgiving.com/page/twvrcymru