WE DID IT!!

Our team of Eight cyclists completed the 1000km to Chamonix on 2nd of July.

Despite occasionally horrendous weather, some saddle soreness(!) and more serious injuries ALL members of the team completed the whole ride.

Thank you so much for the many donations - we have helped to raise a really remarkable sum for a fantastic cause in memory of two wonderful people.

James Bond at the Olympics

James Bond parachuting into the Opening Ceremony of London 2012 with HM the Queen was one of the iconic moments of the Olympic Games. At the time the UK press labelled it as “unlike anything Britain or the World has ever seen”.

Mark Sutton was the brave man under the parachute who amazed millions as James Bond that evening. However, all too often the cost of an extraordinary life is an extraordinary ending. Tragically, little over a year later, Mark was killed in a wing-suiting accident near Chamonix in France.

At the same time as Mark’s death, his cousins Paula Hamilton and Jonathan Sutton were going through a trauma of their own. Their brother Tim was fighting a stoic battle with an insidious and unstoppable cancer. He passed away a few months after Mark. Losing both Mark and Tim so close together was doubly dreadful for the entire Sutton family and friends. 

Voltrek1000

Team Voltrek1000 is made up of Mark’s brother Steve, along with Paula, Jonathan and several close friends. In memory of Mark and Tim they will spend a week cycling the 1000 km from Shere in Surrey to Chamonix. Their goal is to raise as much money as they can for The Gurkha Welfare Trust (GWT).

Mark and Tim would have loved the idea: a tough physical challenge with a bunch of friends for an outstanding and deserving cause.

The Gurkha connection

Mark led an action-packed life. Once a soldier, he won the Sword of Honour whilst at Sandhurst and went on to serve for several years with the Gurkhas. He had a huge affection for these hardy, loyal and ever-smiling comrades and their homeland, Nepal.

The terrible earthquakes in 2015 claimed nearly 9,000 lives. As with all such statistics they are really just an audit of so many individual days of chaos and emotion, with so many souls suffering the utter desolation of the loss of other brothers and best friends.

Mark was a great supporter of GWT. They continue to do incredible work helping Gurkha veterans and their communities to recover from the destruction, and the Voltrek1000 team would like to help continue that legacy.