NEVER mind the Tour de France, what about the Tour de Screwfix?

This is a 5,500 mile national cycle relay organised by the national retailer to raise money for The Screwfix Foundation, a charity which supports projects to fix, repair, maintain and improve properties and facilities for those in need in the UK.

Five members from the Worcester branch took part, Jay Lattimer, Dan Allison, Alex Hadley, Grant Shepherd and Jonathon Beattie who rode the local leg of the challenge from Worcester to Ludlow, which covered 31.7 miles.

Mr Beattie said: "We enjoyed the challenge of Tour De Screwfix especially with it being for such a worthwhile cause. It will be fantastic to see the final amount raised.”

The Screwfix Foundation is now calling out for charities in and around Worcester to apply for a share of the funds raised by the event. Andrew Livingston, chief executive of Screwfix, added: “We are extremely proud of all the staff at all of our 400 stores throughout the UK who are participating in this incredible challenge. It’s a fantastic achievement which is raising money to enable The Screwfix Foundation to continue its hard work in supporting well-deserving, local causes.”

The Screwfix 400th store cycle challenge started in Inverness on April 13 and will travel to every store in the UK, including those in Northern Ireland and heading to Yeovil which is home to Screwfix’s head office. Twenty one head office employees will then embark on the final leg of the journey, a massive 162 mile ride to the 400th store, Hinckley, arriving, hopefully, on June 18.

The Screwfix Foundation works with two national charity partners, Barnardo’s children’s charity and Macmillan Cancer Support, as well as lending a welcome helping hand to smaller, local registered charities.