Support for Chariots of Fire well under way with ‘no slow-coaches’ from Dews Coaches

Support from Cambridgeshire’s business community for the 1.7-mile relay race has so far been positive, with over 50 teams signed up since the event launched to take part in the popular charity relay on Sunday 19 September. This year’s race will support East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) with a £97,500 project to boost life-saving CPR and defibrillator training.

Dews Coaches have gone the extra mile to support the event by donating its services to transport the 100 plus volunteers needed to help the event run smoothly on the day in and out of the city, free of charge. The Somersham-based business is also entering two teams into the relay race to aid some healthy competition in the workplace and to further support EAAA.

Katie Dew, Commercial Manager at Dews Coaches, said: “The East Anglia Air Ambulance is such a vital charity, this is why we are providing the volunteer transport for Chariots of Fire to show our support. We provide bus services for rural and isolated communities so understand how important an air ambulance is in an emergency. We are really looking forward to being there on the day and have entered two teams into the race – we like a bit of friendly competition here at Dews and nobody wants to come home as the slow-coaches!”

Last year’s race was postponed due to the pandemic but race organisers, Hewitsons Charitable Trust, are optimistic for a strong turnout on Queens’ Green this September in support of EAAA, which operates one of its helicopters from Cambridge City Airport and is tasked to almost 2,000 patients a year across East Anglia. Wendy Von Niebel of Hewitsons Charitable Trust said: “We know people may well still be feeling cautious about larger events, but we are confident it will be a fun, safe and enjoyable Chariots of Fire race, in line with any restrictions at the time, and we’re very much looking forward to September and bringing people together, safely, for this popular event.

“We are closely monitoring teams numbers but are still aiming to get the support of 350 teams on the day and believe it will be just the type of fun, team-building event that Cambridge needs after the last year. Funds raised from the event will go towards vital CPR training to aid EAAA in looking after the community, as cardiac arrests are their biggest call out and bystander CPR and using a defibrillator can make a huge difference to a patient’s outcome.

“If you’re just thinking about putting in a team but haven’t done so yet, we encourage you to get stuck in and take part in this great relay race in our beautiful city.”

To enter a team, go to: www.chariots-of-fire.co.uk/enter-a-team

To volunteer on the day to help the event run smoothly, please contact Debbie Howland at EAAA: call 07703684599 or email [email protected].