HARD work on two wheels has meant a community support group can now buy the new mini bus it needs to be able to continue its work in comfort.

Seventeen people including members of Acorn staff took up the challenge of cycling 300 miles each last month. Acorn Community Support is based in Christow working with the Cheriton Bishop and Teign Valley GP team, so it covers a huge rural area. It is a small registered charity founded in 1989.

A replacement minibus is needed. A target of £20,000 was set with fundraising starting last year when Dr Jason Clunie cycled the equivalent of half the height of Everest up and down Bridford Hill in a day.

Last month’s cycling Acorn 300 topped the fundraising which means the mini bus can now be bought.

Each cyclist did 300 miles over the month, some doing 10 miles a day whilst others managed it quicker. One cycled around Dartmoor, camping overnight.

Dr James Hayter rode from Newcastle to the Irish Sea, camped and rode back along Hadrian’s Wall the next day.

Dr Clunie cycled to Wells and back via Cheddar on the first day. The second day he took on Exmoor and Mid Devon. Nearly everyone suffered the hills, one had to rest for a fortnight because of a fall.

One comment was: “They showed great resilience overcoming falling off their bikes, falling in ditches and suffering tyre blow-outs. Among the drama we have seen some beautiful parts of the Devon countryside although the Devon hills continue not to be our friends.”

Then there was the 15 year-old who did his 300 miles in eight days over the week before he went back to school.

One person said she had probably only cycled 300 miles in her life. “This was a real baptism by fire,” she said. “There are two of us newbies who are going to keep cycling now.”

Acorn offers support to anyone in the community in a host of different ways from providing transport for appointments such as hospital or doctor, shopping, befriending, delivering medication and, before Covid, get togethers such as the lunch club and bingo sessions.

Anyone who would like to support Acorn can drop money in at the surgeries, marking the envelope Acorn, or via the Go Fund Me site: https://uk.gofundme.com/f/acorn-cycle-300-in-september-2020 .