Downings' club aims to raise charities' profiles

Pro cycling brothers Dean and Russell Downing have launched a cycling club which aims to promote the charities supported through the fund-rasing Out of the Saddle charity evenings.

The annual dinner, now in its third year, supports a chosen charity and attracts pro and amateur cyclists from all over the country. The Downings have organised the cycling club to raise awareness throughout the year, and allowing fans and supporters to purchase official Out of the Saddle kit, some of the proceeds from which will go to that year's chosen charity.

Throughout the year, the Out of the Saddle project will also run road races and evening Q&As, all designed to raise awareness for the charities they have chosen to support.

The kit, supported by BikePure, will be available all year round with a percentage going to the charity at the end of the year and presented at the Charity Dinner, held in November.

The project will be run by friend of the Downings, John Smith, who has co-organised the dinner for the past two years. “John has had some great ideas over the winter for future fund raising and his next step is organizing the Out Of The Saddle Club with help from Steve Ellis,” said Dean Downing.

He continued: “This will be a great tool for supporting the charities we choose throughout the year so our aim is to get as many members in the club as possible with a portion of the membership fee going towards our chosen charity, which will change every twelve months.”

Russell Downing said: “I'm really excited about where we are going with Out Of The Saddle and the continued association with Bike Pure. Along with Dean and John, we all put a lot of effort into the running of our annual dinner as this comes in our off-season. But at the moment I'm spending a whole lot of time travelling and racing so it’s great that the guys back home are pushing everything forward in my absence.”

He continued: “We aim to get as many members as possible to get the Out Of The Saddle message forward. We want to show what cyclists can do off of the bike by raising money for good causes and also with our association with Bike Pure show everyone what we believe in, so anyone out there who wants to join, please get in touch.”

For more information on Out of the Saddle club news and kit design you can email them on outofthesaddle1 [at] gmail.com or follow them on Twitter and join their Facebook group