Charity ride for Spireites’ war memorial

Spireite Charlie Last, of Dronfield, has raised thousands of pounds for a variety of causes and as soon as he heard about the club’s plans to build a war memorial in honour of those with links to the club he combined his passions for soccer and cycling to come up with his latest fundraiser.

Charlie said: “It’s been brilliant to combine two of my favourite things - cycling and football - and come up with a fundraiser for such a good cause.

“So being a Spireite since 1970 and liking my bike riding it was obvious to me what I was going to have to do.”

The Blues have launched a £35,000 appeal to build a memorial garden opposite the East Stand of the Proact stadium and Charlie hopes to give the appeal a cash injection with a sponsored ride from the Proact, from 9am, on May 10, to the Sky Blues’ Etihad ground and memorial.

Charlie, who is struggling with an injured knee, will be driving as back up for his team of sponsored cyclists as they take on the 50 mile ride over the Snake Pass with transport laid on for a more relaxed return journey.

The ride marks the commemorative 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War One and marks the end of the football season.

Charlie and ex-Spirite player Bob Newton will also be doing a sponsored static ride on Friday, May 9, between 4pm and 8pm, at Tesco in Chesterfield with bucket collections.

Chesterfield FC will also be doing text donations at the Proact for the appeal during the Blues’ last game of the season against Fleetwood on Saturday, May 3.