On Tuesday Marchant completed his 'Pedal for Purpose' cycling challenge with a final celebratory ride planned for later in the month, cycling the length of the UK as well as around the Western and Northern Isles for The Bread Maker, a social enterprise offering adults with learning disabilities apprenticeships in baking and hospitality.
Marchant’s sponsorship fund stands at an impressive almost £20k, which will be added to a growing pot to cover a renovation of the bakery's coffee shop on Rosemount Viaduct. The fund will be open for donations till end of August - click here to donate.
The bakery's total goal is to raise £370,000 – which will cover the installation of a teaching kitchen, allowing the charity to offer more apprentices one-to-one support and the ability to gain formal qualifications.
But that's not all – with funds raised, The Bread Maker hopes to install measures to cut its bills and become what it calls 'the greenest bakery in the North-East'. Plans include installing a heat distribution system and ecofriendly refrigeration, as well as switching to electric delivery vehicles and adding solar power to the building.
Marchant, who is chair of The Bread Maker's board of trustees, said: “Bread making is an energy-intensive business, it uses a lot of electricity for the ovens and other equipment. A big part of our environmental policy is trying to improve that.
“Support for our apprentices is foremost to everything we do, irrespective of how we do it, but we want to do it in a responsible and caring way for the environment. By committing to this, we are exploring all the options to deliver improvements in every area of the enterprise.”
Marchant - who had been seeking a personal challenge of his own - felt it made sense to combine the two in an epic fundraiser.
The 65-year-old cycled 1,300 miles across the UK, in 20 days, climbing almost 89,000 feet. His adventure began in Land’s End before venturing across Scotland on the North Coast 500 and 29 of its Islands such as Orkney, Raasay, Islay and more.
He said: “I’ve been planning for over a year as it’s a big logistical challenge in terms of the routes and the strict ferry scheduling – it was necessary to book 34 ferry journeys ahead of time. There’s been no chance to say, ‘Oh I’m tired today, let’s have a day off’.
“I’m not a big cyclist; I’m not one of these guys who goes out and does 100 miles regularly. I have been training over the last year and following plans from personal trainers. “For someone my age, the hardest challenge has been not having any recovery time. I had some challenging medical conditions crop up during the challenge that had to be addressed so it was tough and these prevented me from achieving my original goal of 2,817 miles.”
The journey certainly provided ample opportunity to appreciate the environment. “Cycling through the most beautiful places in Scotland has been a joy. It’s hard not to take a moment and look at what you’re traveling through, there’s so many beautiful places.”
Support received along the way has been phenomenal; celebrity shout-outs from chef Tom Kerridge, the Hebridean Baker, Coinneach MacLeod and, from the original inspiration for the challenge, endurance cyclist Mark Beaumont. In addition, many strangers encountered on the expedition have sponsored Neil, from fellow cyclists to ferry passengers simply for the good cause and fantastic commitment.
Undoubtedly the biggest uplift has come from The Bread Maker family. Touched, Neil said: “The support from The Bread Maker, the apprentices on social media were heartwarming and motivational for me, it’s given me a boost along the way.”
You can still support Neil and The Bread Maker by donating through his Just Giving page. https://www.justgiving.com/page/neil-marchant-4
