Prudential RideLondon sportive raises record-breaking £10 million for charity

The Prudential RideLondon 100 mile sportive has raised over £10 million for charity, according to its organisers.

Part of the Mayor of London’s annual festival of cycling, the sportive claims to have set a new UK fundraising record.

The 2013 inaugural event raised more than £7 million in one day with around 16,000 riders, but this year’s with 20,000 beat that by a further £3 million.

The 2014 event was marred by high winds and heavy rain which meant the route was shortened to 86 miles, but the average sum raised by each rider was over £900.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who rode the 2013 event, said: “Prudential RideLondon is more than just a fantastic celebration of cycling; it is also an event that raises millions for charity.

“I applaud the effort of this year’s riders, who overcame such difficult conditions, and their generous sponsors, in raising the bar for next year’s ride by generating a record-breaking sum of money for worthy causes.”

Event Director Hugh Brasher said: “We are extremely proud of the commitment of our riders, who cycled through some of the most challenging conditions imaginable, and the generosity of their supporters and we plan to help raise even more for charity in future years.”

The ballot for places in the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 - which takes place on 2 August 2015 - closes at 17:00 on Tuesday 6 January 2015. Sign up here.

Organisers of the 2015 Prudential RideLondon Surrey 100 say next year's event will be the biggest sportive in Europe and the second biggest in the world, with the number of entries likely to be to be around 35,000.

Just 72 hours after registration opened the ballot for the 2015 ride is already halfway to the 100,000 limit.

That larger ballot — up from 80,000 last year — reflects a likely larger field for next year's ride, if this year's post-event debrief shows that to be feasible.

Earlier this year we reported how Last year's RideLondon festival raised over £600,000 for community groups in the county.

Last December, 10 Surrey groups were given more than £380,000 by the London Marathon Charitable Trust, which runs the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey events. Earlier this year another 30 groups pocketed over £242,000.

Benficiaries have included local sports organisations and cash-strapped parish councils.
Kingston has benefitted from a grant of £130,000 to fund the development of a closed-road cycling track, which will provide a safe place for local children and adults to ride their bikes.

Almost £9,500 was awarded to Hindhead Playing Fields Association, which hosts local football and cricket teams, for football coaching and new car park lights.