CHRISTMAS COMES EARLY FOR TWO WORTHY CHARITIES!
Running since 2006, the Annual Kirkby Christmas Trial has raised over £50,000 for various charities to date. Winners and previous riders have included Ripon’s own Danny Gamble and Joel Sadler along with Billy Bolt, Graham Jarvis, Jonathan Richardson, Guy Kendrew, Richard Sadler and Jack Peace.
In December 2021, in conjunction with Ripon Motor Club Ltd, the annual trial was the biggest and best yet, with 163 riders over 3 courses! The entry was phenomenal with names like James Dabill, Alexz Wigg, Steve Peat, Harry Turner and Dan Thorpe to name but a few. James Dabill beat Harry Turner to the trophy, by only 1 mark!
At the helm was Dave Mawer, Joel Sadler and Nigel Simpson ensuring the planned event was one to remember, along with the help of all the Ripon Motor Club Committee and some other willing volunteers.
The Mawer family have been hosting the trial at their farm nr Kirkby Malzeard for years, and are very much involved in the planning, organising and running of the event. Without them, there would be no trial so a special thank you has to go to all of them for their continued support.
This year, 2 charities were chosen to benefit from the event proceeds. They were The Yorkshire Air Ambulance Service and the Macmillan Head and Neck Cancer Nurses based at James Cook Hospital. Both charities are close to the hearts of the organisers and Ripon Motor Club. Given the remote location of trials, we never know when the services of the Air Ambulance will be needed, therefore the worthwhile charity felt like a must choice. The Macmillan nurses charity is particularly close to the hearts for all at Ripon, with one of the committee members battling tonsil cancer, without the help of those nurses at James Cook, things would definitely have been a lot harder for the family.
The trial raised a total of £4200 with Ripon Motor Club donating an additional £1800 so both charities could receive £3000 each. MacMillan Head and Neck Cancer Nurses currently have nowhere comfortable in which to have those difficult conversations when a patient receives a cancer diagnosis. The money is going to be spent on converting a room into a soothing, calming sanctuary for patients and their loved ones to talk about treatment plans, next steps, etc. Yorkshire Air Ambulance are always in need of money to help keep them running day to day so they are extremely grateful for any donations, big or small.
The Kirkby Christmas Trial will once again be running under the umbrella of Ripon Motor Club in December 2022 and it is set to be another epic trial. As was once said “if Carlsberg did trials, the Kirkby Christmas Trial would be it!”
Full details of all trials that Ripon Motor Club are running can be found on their website: www.riponmotorclub.co.uk
