Quilter Cheviot Etape Royale launches

The Quilter Cheviot Etape Royale is now open for entries and as the event's official charity partner Marie Curie is calling on cycling enthusiasts to get on their bikes and help fundraise to support people living with a terminal illness and their families. 

A season finale for road cycling enthusiasts, the Etape Royale will take place on Sunday 18 September. This 100 mile circular route, with its hub in Ballater, takes in the stunning countryside of Moray’s whisky country, one of the UK’s highest roads over The Lecht and Aberdeenshire’s Royal Deeside. 

Wildfox Events, the event organiser, has announced it has donated over £7,000 of proceeds in the past year to community organisations along the route. Once again they're pledging 10% from every entry fee to support local projects. 

David Fox-Pitt, Managing Director of Wildfox Events says: It goes without saying that putting on a closed road cycling event of this scale, particularly in a small rural community, brings its challenges, and quite simply, without the support of the people and businesses who make up that community, we would be at a loss.
“Wildfox has always had a strong ethos of supporting charity and community enterprise so it’s rewarding to see the impact we have made so far through The Quilter Cheviot Etape Royale and if more people register to take part on the day, we will be able to increase this contribution.

Since the Etape Royale 2015, Wildfox’s contribution has enabled a small group of volunteers from the Cabrach to build a Cairn in memorial of local men who died at war, referred to by BBC ‘Landward’ as ‘the biggest War Memorial in Europe’ and honoured last summer by HRH the Duke of Rothesay. Located adjacent to the main road at Inverharroch Farm, the Cairn’s stones were gathered locally, brought to the site and placed by the hands of locals and families of those who’ve lost relatives and close friends to war.

Chairperson, Patti Nelson says: We feel that what we have built says what we want it to say: it sits in a fold of the hills looking as if it belongs. We did it for the soldiers who went to war ‘to fight for King and Country’, to protect a way of life, family, future and deeply felt beliefs and values, and also for the wives, mothers, fathers and children left behind, whose lives were forever changed. They couldn’t create a memorial themselves. They weren’t here anymore.
The project in its entirety has cost our small community almost £12,000 to date, so we can say for certain, the memorial would not have been possible without donations and support from organisations like Wildfox Events and the Etape Royale, which we are happy to be partnering with again this year.

Other organisations to benefit from the event include the National Farmers Union for Scotland (NFUS), which is subsequently running a youth orientated campaign to promote careers in the agricultural industry, led by the NFUS New Generation Group.
Lorna Paterson, regional manager for NFUS, commented: We are highly grateful to funds secured from Wildfox Events. The NFUS New Generation Group meet regularly as a steering group to share and initiate campaign ideas, and without their contribution this would not be possible.

Marie Curie’s Megan Melville said: We’re proud to be the official charity partner for Etape Royale and hope everyone taking part will consider raising money for us. There’s no minimum amount and every pound raised helps our nurses who are working night and day, in people’s homes across the UK, providing hands-on care and vital emotional support.

For cyclists daunted by the full 100 mile challenge, 65 and 45 mile options are also available starting from Rhynie and Dufftown, with all routes ending in Ballater, where The Royal Deeside Cycling Festival will entertain participants, friends and family. With a cycling skills circuit, climbing wall and zorbing available to keep the kids busy, the event hub will also offer foodies the chance to refuel with some fresh, local produce at a dedicated farmer’s market. Local musicians will also be involved.