Life Cycle 2 — the second charity challenge by a team of cyclists from the University — has raised £250,000 for Nottingham Potential.

The 12-strong team cycled 1,100 from Cape Wrath in Scotland to Dover in the South East in just 14 days.

It followed on from the success of last year’s Life Cycle, when the team rode from John o’Groats to Land’s End and raised over £230,000 for the University’s Sue Ryder Care Centre for research on Supportive, Palliative and End of Life Care.

Nottingham Potential is part of Impact: The Nottingham Campaign under the Nurturing Talent theme and aims to help those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds to access higher education.

Members of the public also got involved as the team reached Nottingham on Day 10, with more than 300 people taking part in a Community Day featuring two cycling challenges and a sponsored walk around University Park.

The £250,000 raised so far is in addition to the University’s £8m annual commitment to widening participation.

After growing up in an area of serious social deprivation in the east end of Glasgow, Professor Greenaway knows first-hand the potential difference the money raised could make to people’s lives.

He said: “Nottingham Potential is all about widening participation, raising aspirations and supporting achievement so that even more capable young people from under-represented backgrounds in Nottingham, across the East Midlands and more widely can reach their academic potential. We want to ensure that financial concerns do not limit the ambition of those with the ability to achieve academic excellence.

“Nottingham Life Cycle 2 will make a huge impact on increasing awareness and funds for educationally disadvantaged young people but is only one part of our ongoing pledge to widen participation and raise aspirations across the region.”

The Vice-Chancellor thanked all of the people who had supported the ride, including Lucozade, Gleeds, Santander Universities and UPP. Special praise was also given to those who had joined the team on the ride, including Chief Executive of Malaysian Airways Ahmad Jauhari Yahya and fellow alumni Doug Thomson and Jack Swannell from Into University and everyone who took part in the Community Day.

Professor Greenaway said: “To have ridden almost 1,100 miles is a remarkable achievement. What is even more remarkable is that we have already raised more to help young people from disadvantaged backgrounds than Life Cycle 1 — John o’Groats to Land’s End.

“For me personally, it has been a privilege to spend two weeks on the road with such a special group of people. I have taken enormous pride in that the riders and support team take this on for no other reason than trying to have an impact on educational disadvantage.”

For more information, visit the Life Cycle website at: www.nottingham.ac.uk/lifecycle or hear more about the fundraising journey on the Life Cycle Blog at: blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/lifecycle