A Barry man has raised over £2,000 by completing a charity scooter ride from Wales to London to Edinburgh and back in less than 22 hours.

Jason Ude, 50, rode more than 1000 miles in aid of the lifesaving charity – Wales Air Ambulance.

Jason set off from Cardiff Castle on his 24-hour challenge on 9 July and only stopped for fuel and breaks. The fundraiser saw him travel to Trafalgar Square, London, then onto Edinburgh, before returning to Wales on his Vespa 3 scooter. 

The dad-of-one was joined by fellow rider Ricky Williams, 35, from Bridgend who read about Jason’s 3 Nations Capital Charity Scooter Run 2021 and offered to join him on his challenge.

The men met each other for the first time a week before the fundraiser. Since meeting up, Jason and Ricky have become good friends and Jason recently took Ricky to his first scooter rally.

A delighted Jason, who completed the ride in 21 hours and 28 minutes, said: “The run went very well, and we raised £2,110 which is an amazing amount. I’d like to thank my sponsors and also a big thank you to all who donated.

“The Wales Air Ambulance is a charity that is a lifesaving operation, and I am looking forward to doing more fundraising to help them in the future.”

Jason is no stranger to doing this epic challenge - last year he did the same ride and raised nearly £1,300 for Breast Cancer Now. 

Jason and Ricky received a lot of support from family, friends and sponsors. Jason would like to thank his sponsors Steve and Tracey Goodfellow of O’Neil Signs, Tony Bryant of Lambretta Club of Wales, Iggy Granger of Scooter Lab UK and Darren Groves of Crusader promotions.

In December 2020, the Charity achieved its aim of operating a 24/7 service. Wales now has access to the service’s Emergency Department-standard critical care around the clock and to keep the helicopters in the air, the Charity needs to raise £8 million every year.  

Wendy McManus, Wales Air Ambulance community fundraiser, said: “Jason and Ricky took on the huge challenge of travelling over 1,000 miles in 24 hours for the Wales Air Ambulance and raised over their fundraising target of £2,000. We’d like to thank them both for their support and dedication in raising much-needed funds.

“Jason is very passionate about raising funds for charity and we’re delighted to hear that he plans on doing more fundraising to help our lifesaving service in the future. Thank you to everyone who donated or supported both men in their challenge, you’re helping save lives across Wales.”

There are several ways that the public can continue to support the Wales Air Ambulance Charity. These include online donations, signing up to the Charity’s Lifesaving Lottery or by coming up with innovative ways to fundraise. Further information can be found via www.walesairambulance.com. 

Alternatively, a £5 text-message donation can be made by texting the word HELI to 70711.