BLACKBURN TWL ADVISOR AIMS TO HELP BREAK A WORLD RECORD

A BLACKBURN man who helps local people into employment is bidding to help break a world record by travelling more than 1,000 miles in under 24 hours on his Harley Davidson.

Personal Guidance Advisor Garry Phillips, who works for TWL Training Ltd in Richmond Terrace, will be joining Royal British Legion Riders to raise money for this year’s Poppy Appeal. The riders will be attempting a world group record for a ‘Saddlesore 1,000’ ride by having 200 of them undertaking a 1,000 mile ride all at the same time.

But it’s unlikely to be a comfortable ride as the bike is ‘hard-tailed’ – meaning there is no rear suspension. In fact, it’s going to be so painful Garry will be taking painkillers before he sets off to ensure his limbs don’t seize up from the vibration of the engine on his 1999 Harley Davidson Sportster!

Garry’s mammoth trek starts at famous bikers’ venue Squires Café Bar at Sherburn in Elmet, West Yorkshire. From there, he will join the M6 in the North West and head south through Cheshire down to Devon and Cornwall before going across to Dover. From Kent, Garry will be heading up to East London and then join the A1 back to Sherburn in Elmet.

Garry, 55, from Griffin, said: “The furthest I’ve ever travelled is 700 miles and that was hard, but this is going to be real pain barrier stuff! Because there’s no suspension, it starts hurting after just one and a half hours.

“I reckon it will take me around 17 hours to complete, starting at 8am and finishing at 1am the following day. However, it will be all worth it though because the Poppy Appeal is such a worthy cause and I want to raise as much money as possible. The debt of honour we owe to people who have served and fallen in conflict is massive and all donations will be gratefully received.”

Christine Thompson, Centre Manager for TWL Training Ltd, said: “Garry is extremely popular with colleagues and learners here at TWL. We all wish him well for his ride – and hope he isn’t too sore for work on the Monday!”

To make a donation, contact Garry on 01254 264347 or email garry.phillips@twluk.com

TWL Training Ltd is a sub division of The Intraining Group, which is part of the Newcastle College Group (NCG).

The Newcastle College Group is a £175m organisation which brings together over 40,000 learners and 3,800 staff, across three divisions at over 100 sites, to form one of the largest providers of learning, skills and employability in the UK.

The Newcastle College Group is made up of The Intraining Group based in Sheffield, Newcastle College - one of the UK’s top performing Further and Higher Education colleges and Skelmersdale and Ormskirk College in West Lancashire.

NCG’s focus is to meet national and local education, skills and employability needs for individuals and the skills priorities of employers in line with Government agendas.

The Group provides quality education, training and work based learning solutions to thousands of organisations and learners throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. These range from Government funded and commercial skills training and education and bespoke professional courses, through to employability services and national training contract management.

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