£30,000 target within reach for Souter cyclists raising money for Doddie Weir’s MND charity

Cycling Souters team members, from left, Tommy Knox, David Anderson, Scott Hall, Kevin Fairbairn and Allen Jamieson pictured prior to setting off on a training ride to Kelso (Photo: John Smail)

The Cycling Souters, as they call themselves, are one of 19 teams taking part in a 1,500-plus-mile relay ride to Rome to accompany ex-Scotland rugby captain Rob Wainwright as he delivers the match-ball for the current national team’s Six Nations fixture against Italy on Saturday, March 9.

The 11-strong party’s online appeal, taking donations at https://www.justgiving.com/team/cyclingsouters, has already passed the £26,000 mark ahead of their departure this coming Sunday, overtaking the £20,000 they raised in February 2022 by riding from Edinburgh to Cardiff in 48 hours to deliver the ball used in the Scots’ 20-17 Doddie Weir Cup loss to Wales that year.

“We’ve been overwhelmed by the positive response we’ve had from local companies, organisations and members of the public,” said team member David Anderson, president of the Philiphaugh club.

“The ride is going to be a huge challenge, both logistically and because of the enormous distance that needs to be cycled.

“However, we have been training hard for several months, and the phenomenal support we’ve received across the board has given everyone a huge boost.”

Proceeds from their ride in memory of former Melrose and Scotland lock Weir, killed at the age of 52 by MND in November 2022, will go to the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, the charity he set up following his diagnosis with the disease in 2016.

Anderson and fellow riders Michael Bell, John Davidson, Scott Hall, Gordon Hunter, Allen Jamieson, Kevin Fairbairn, Tommy Knox, Mark Moncrieff, Kenny Pearce and Iwan Tukalo – backed up by a support crew comprising Nancy Hunter, Lawrence McPherson and Susan Tukalo – will leave Selkirk Market Place at 8am on Sunday and ride 90 miles to Newcastle to catch an overnight ferry to Amsterdam.

They’ll then head south through the Netherlands, Belgium and France en route to the Italian capital in time for Scotland’s second-last match of 2024’s Six Nations.