The RAF Association is thanking volunteer organisers and supporters for their overwhelming response after two fundraising events went ahead in different formats to follow the Government’s COVID-19 guidelines.

More than £100,000 was raised after organisers of a sponsored bike ride and a 46-mile sponsored walk changed the way the events were run so that participants could take part wherever they were in a socially-distanced way.

The changes led to hundreds of extra people signing-up and over £100,000 – far more than originally hoped for – being raised for the Association’s work to help people experiencing loneliness, isolation and practical problems as a result of the pandemic.

Using online technology on their tablets or phones, more than 250 cyclists across the UK and at locations overseas took to virtual roads last week to clock-up 100 miles each in the RAFA Rides Virtual event, raising over £70,000.

Many participants based at RAF stations rode static bikes in hangars or workplace gyms, while others cycled in their own bedrooms, garages or gardens. Some took to roads in their local areas to cover the distance on moving bikes.

After being waved-off online by Nell McAndrew, many were cheered-on from a distance by RAF colleagues and members of their own households. An online ‘cheer squad’ of RAF Association volunteers was live-streamed to the cyclists. Tracking technology was used to measure participants’ distances and for organisers to keep in touch with them.The online format of the challenge meant that people overseas, including cyclists in Cyprus, the Middle East and the USA, joined in.

RAFA Quaranteam, a group of cyclists from the serving, veteran and extended RAF community, were among those in the saddle taking part in their own homes. RAFA Rides founder and Quaranteam rider Air Vice-Marshal Gary Waterfall said: “I was stunned at the amount of support for the cycling challenge.

“We went from feeling disappointed that the event might not happen to seeing over 250 riders in 32 teams across the world, all digging deep to raise money for the RAF Association’s COVID-19 projects.”

On the same day as RAFA Rides Virtual, more than 100 people were lacing-up their trainers and walking boots at the start of Lockdown Pathfinder – a week of sponsored running and hiking in people’s home areas.

The event had originally been due to take place in Cambridgeshire, with a small number of people planning to walk a 46-mile route taking in former airbases of the RAF Pathfinder Force – a key component of Bomber Command during the Second World War.

With participants unable to get together for the event, the volunteer organisers decided to cover the distance individually on short walks in their own locales over seven days. They invited their friends in the UK and abroad to do the same, and were bowled over when the response snowballed.Corporal Ashley Oldroyd-Clarke, an RAF Association Liaison Officer stationed at RAF Cranwell, Lincolnshire, was among the organisers. He said: “Once we’d decided to run our event in a different format, we invited a few friends to join in. Those friends invited others and, before we knew it, the number had grown to over 100!

“In the end, we had people across the UK and other parts of the world, including in Belgium, Iraq and the Falkland Islands, taking part. The challenge has provided people with a great opportunity for socially-distanced exercise while raising money for an important cause.”

Walkers used tracking apps on their phones to record their progress, and used social media to share their experiences and photographs along the way. So far, the walkers have raised more than £20,000, and money is still coming in.

Ashley has seen the RAF Association’s COVID-19 emergency work at first hand, as he has been one of the charity’s volunteers delivering vital lockdown supplies to elderly and medically vulnerable members of the RAF family.

Amy Petterson, the charity’s Head of Community Fundraising, said:

“The support, passion and enthusiasm for fundraising for the Association has been overwhelming.

“We’re tremendously grateful to the event organisers and to the hundreds of people who have taken part. The money they have raised will contribute to our ongoing COVID-19 response.

“The social and economic damage being caused by the pandemic means that, even when the immediate threats from the virus have passed, the support provided by the RAF Association is likely to be needed more than ever.”

The RAF Association hopes that the original format of its annual RAFA Rides cycle event will now take place in Leicestershire on 3 October. More information and a booking form is available at https://www.rafa.org.uk/get-involved/events/rafa-rides/