Cumbria holiday park greets Pudsey with a £500 welcome

When BBC One Show’s Rickshaw Challenge crossed the border into Cumbria this week (14 Nov), it received more than just a warm reception from well-wishers.

That’s because the welcoming party from Silverdale holiday park, just over the Lancashire border, also had a £500 cheque ready to support the TV fundraising epic.

The donation produced a big thumbs up from the One Show’s presenter Matt Baker who is cycling alongside the team of six rickshaw riders on the 500-mile marathon.

It was handed over to Matt by Silverdale marketing executive Ellen Cartwright who had joined other staff and holiday guests for the early morning meet-up.

The holiday park had been tracking the progress of the team’s journey on a live BBC Children in Need web page, and correctly estimated that they would be arriving at around 7.15am.

When park owner Michael Holgate heard of the staff’s plans to cheer the team over the border, he decided they should be greeted with more than just a banner.

Silverdale’s donation, he said, would be supporting a raft of extremely worthwhile causes which are funded by cash raised through the Children in Need appeal.

Since 2011, The Rickshaw Challenge has raised over £16 million, and every penny that’s donated goes towards helping children and young people across the UK.

The team set off on Thursday 9th November from New Broadcasting House in London, and their every move is being followed from the One Show studio by Matt’s co-presenter Alex Jones.

Team Rickshaw are working their way across the UK in a bid to cross the finish line in Glasgow on Friday 17th November, during BBC Children in Need’s 2017 Appeal Show.

The rickshaw is being pedalled by six young riders, all of whom have been supported by BBC Children in Need funded projects.

Michael Holgate said that everyone from the park had laid on a fantastic welcome, and earned a well-deserved thanks from the One Show team.