THE founder of a charity bike ride has spoken about being humbled by his Pride of Gwent Charity Champion Award nomination.

Dave Rees is the driving force behind the Dalmatian bike ride which raises money for St David’s Hospice Care.

When we first spoke to Mr Rees he thought the nomination was a “wind-up”. He said: “It’s humbling really. It’s nice to be nominated but you don’t do it for that, you do it and feel good but don’t expect it.”

The married father of two has been fundraising since 2012 when he saw the work of a hospice first hand. “My father-in-law passed away at St Anne’s Hospice and the staff were so wonderful. I asked them the cost of having someone for day and they told me it was £500. I decided to raise £2,500 for the five days he was with them.”

When it came to raising the money Mr Rees decided to use his passion for cycling. “I had committed to raising the money and I thought ‘I can’t run but can cycle.’”

Mr Rees planned a route around ten south Wales hospitals that was 40 miles long. 30 people took part and the event was a huge success raising £10,000.

The next year the aim was to get 100 cyclists until another member of the organising team, Ian Humphries, suggested getting 101 people and dressing as Dalmatians. This is how the Dalmatian Bike Ride was born.

“We have raised £131,000 for the hospice.The event has got an awful lot of people cycling who haven’t done any cycling in a while. We are hoping to get 500 riders this year and the organising team meet once a month. We always welcome new people to come help out.”

Mr Rees is also involved in other charitable work: “Every Christmas we go to social services and ask them to give us the names of 20 children who won’t get presents. Then we go out and try and get them gifts.”

Another Christmas activity is providing food at Christmas to homeless people: “We feed the homeless every year and we were able to deliver the whole Christmas meal for the homeless this year.

“We also did advent calendar where instead of opening a present you add an item of food to a box.

“That way we we created 55 food parcels for the food bank at Stow Park Church.”

Working full time and family life means Mr Rees doesn’t have much free time, but his family support his good work. “They think I’m mad.

“I work long hours, but my wife is very supportive of what I do. She gets involved in administration of the bike ride.

“I often go home and say ‘Guess what I’m doing now’ and she says ‘Not another one.’.”

To get involved in the Dalmatian bike ride contact daverees61@ntlworld.com.

There is still time for readers to submit their nominations for the Pride of Gwent Awards, which contain the following categories:

  • 999 hero Award
  • Charity Champion Award
  • Life Saver Award
  • Special Recognition Award
  • Community Hero Award
  • Courage Award Award
  • Achiever Award
  • Good Samaritan Award
  • Volunteer Award
  • Carer Award
  • Local Hero Award
  • Environment Award
  • Lifetime Achievement Award

To nominate someone for an award fill in the form here. 

The closing date for nominations is January 27. with a judging panel picking winners in February followed by a ceremony in March at the Coldra Court Hotel by Celtic Manor.

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