King’s Ely Junior pupil Syrah completes Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride

A King's Ely Junior pupil has raised funds and awareness for good causes by completing the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride.

Syrah Simcock-Stow, 11, and her father, Edward, were among hundreds of people who took part in the quirky, annual fundraising event in Cambridge on September 30th.

The Distinguished Gentleman's Ride is a global motorcycle fundraiser to raise awareness of prostate cancer and male suicide prevention. Open to all genders, the ride was founded in 2012 by Mark Hawwa in Sydney, Australia; inspired by a photo of Mad Men’s Don Draper on a classic bike in a fine suit.

The ride provides an outline of dress and behaviour, suggesting riders wear dapper clothing, silk vests, tweed suits and behave in an affable manner. Suggested motorcycles for the themed ride include café racers, bobbers, classics, modern classics, flat trackers, scramblers, old school choppers, brat styled, classic scooters and classic sidecars.

The event carries no entry fee and riders are encouraged to raise sponsorship money for prostate cancer research and male suicide prevention on behalf of charity partner, The Movember Foundation.

Around 120,000 people across the world supported the campaign this year, and in Cambridge 400 people took part, raising more than £38,000 – making it the 14th biggest ride in the world from 634 participating cities.

Head of King’s Ely Junior, Richard Whymark, said: “Syrah’s involvement with this exciting and fun-filled charity event was wonderful to celebrate at school. By raising the profiles of these two important issues amongst the school community, Syrah has played an important role in promoting engagement by others. We congratulate Syrah and her father on their success.”

Syrah and her father have raised almost £1,000 between them and can be sponsored by visiting: www.gentlemansride.com/fundraiser/SyrahS-S.