Are you planning to attend the Bucks preseason meeting with fellow Shropshire side Shrewsbury Town on 30th July?
Perhaps you’re planning a special journey just to be there?
If you are, we doubt you will be making a journey to the match as challenging as the one soon to be undertaken by Councillor Ian Preece, the Mayor of the Borough of Telford and Wrekin.
Ian, director of the AFC Telford United Foundation, is swapping his office chains for bicycle chains and pitting himself against the road to raise funds for both the Foundation and Prostate Cancer UK.
Ian aims to pedal his pushbike from the SEAH Stadium to Wembley Stadium and back in under twenty-four hours, covering just over three hundred miles.
Ian’s goal is to be back in Telford for the kick-off of the Bucks’ pre-season friendly meeting with Shrewsbury Town, which begins at 7.45 pm on Tuesday, 30th July.
Ian is an irrepressible character who has taken on many charity challenges in the past, but even he admits that this one is “spicy”:
“Yeah, it’s for the foundation and Prostate Cancer UK; half of the money goes to help support the free projects we deliver in the community and the rest to the charity.”
Although the Bucks have over a thousand regular supporters and many more who follow the club from within the community, there will be people who are unaware of what the Foundation does, so I asked Ian to explain:
“The foundation is about everything that the club does in the community. We are part of that community, and it’s about our organisation giving back to the fans who come in and watch our team; they pay to support, and we see our role as giving back more than just a good result at the end of ninety minutes.”
The Foundation uses football to deliver community projects; it isn’t solely about football-related initiatives and events.
“We’re aiming to help the people who are the most vulnerable in society. We do free youth clubs for kids, free kids clubs, walking football for fitness in older people, disability football; it’s a long list!”
Ian sent me a copy of his list, which totals 29 current projects, all free at the point of access. The plan is to keep delivering those and more, which is where raising more funds comes in.
Splitting those funds raised with Prostate Cancer UK is a choice influenced by several people known to Ian and others at the football club who the disease has touched. It is also how the wider football community has adopted Prostate Cancer UK. You may have seen managers on TV wearing the distinctive ‘Man of Men’ badge or seen former Soccer Saturday host Jeff Stelling’s various charity challenges for the charity.
As mentioned, Ian has undertaken some tough challenges in the past:
“I rode from Land’s End to John O’Groats in four days, but we thought we’d create this challenge and give a bit more spice to it, so I’m going to set off 24 hours before kick-off, ride through the night, get to Wembley, traverse Wembley and get back before kick-off for the Shrewsbury game.”
Ian will set off at 7.45 pm on Monday evening from the SEAH Stadium. With bicycles not allowed on motorways, he’ll follow the old Roman Road, now known as Watling Street, to North London, home of Wembley’s distinctive arch and also the home of the Football Association HQ.
Ian has been clocking up the miles in training, and his social media followers are accustomed to seeing him post photographs from the coast, having pedalled across Wales in preparation:
“Yeah, I’ve been training for it, but I’ve got another charity challenge lined up for early August, for which we’ve already raised a good amount.”
Ian has no support crew for the Wembley ride, making it a genuine solo challenge – one man against the road, the clock and the elements.
If you’d like to support Ian in his challenge with a donation, you can do so here:
Telford to Wembley and Back in 24 Hours
If you want to see Ian off on Monday or welcome him back on Tuesday evening, then the SEAH Stadium is the place to be, although with our near neighbours in town for preseason, we hope you’d want to be there anyway.
Best of luck, Ian, go swiftly but safely!
Here’s Ian’s current Foundation project list:
- Disability football
- Walking football
- Mental health programme
- Urban Games programme
- AFC Telford Kicks Youth Club
- ‘In Your Corner’ programme
- Military veterans’ football
- Wildcats program
- Squad girls program
- HHAH (Holiday Hunger) programme
- Development Centre programme
- Community Outreach programme
- Foodbank
- Interfaith football sessions
- ‘Christmas Kindness’ project
- ‘Kits for Africa’ project
- ‘Kit out the County’ project
- ‘Walk and Talk’ fitness sessions
- Kids holiday camps
- Friday Night Football project
- Schools Outreach programme
- Community education programme
- Football Fitness ‘Boot Camp’ program
- Community multisport sessions
- Community drop-in football sessions
- Mini Bucks 4 to 6 early years programme
- Junior Bucks Club programme
- Refugee football programme
- Birthday/team match day party programme
