‘Ard Rock mountain bike event hands over almost £50,000 to storm damaged Swaledale Community.

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Following devastating flash flooding across parts of Swaledale, Arkengarthdale and Wensleydale, the Two Ridings Community Foundation got a major boost to its fundraising efforts to assist residents affected by the floods when it received a donation of £48,655 from the organisers of the Ard Rock.

Ard Rock is the UK’s biggest mountain bike race and festival and it attracts some of the World’s highest profile racers, with the 2019 event expected to host four previous mountain bike world Champions. The racing takes place in the Swaledale and Arkengarthdale Valleys and, the festival has an expo area with bike brands from around the world, live music and activities for adults and children.

The event, due to be held on 2-3 August 2019, had to be cancelled at short notice following the devastating flash flooding which damaged roads, homes and infrastructure close to the event site on 31 st July 2019. Immediately after cancelling the event, the team led by Joe and Kelly Rafferty turned their efforts to fund raising to help the local community get back on its feet. As well as raffling of a high end Santa Cruz mountain bike they set up a donation page and asked their participants to support the Swaledale and Arkengrathdale communities.

The donation to The Swaledale and Wensleydale Recovery Fund, which is being managed by the Two Ridings Community Foundation, will be used to ensure that the families and small businesses affected in Arkengarthdale and Swaledale have long-term support to help them recover from the effects of flooding. This includes awards to the Parish Councils as well as payments to residents to help them with the costs of temporary accommodation, running dehumidifiers or replacing items such as white goods and essential furniture. The Fund will also support local farm businesses in hardship. £30,000 of the money raised by Ard Rock has already been donated to Akrengarthdale, Reeth and Grinton Parish Councils to assist them with immediate repair work on severely damaged land to protect properties and businesses.

Joe Rafferty from Ard Rock: “Swaledale and Arkengarthdale have been the host of Ard Rock for seven years now, and the valleys and beautiful scenery have given us all so many good times and special memories. On behalf of all the Ard Rock participants and the mountain bike community, we are delighted that the funds we raised will help the local community recover. We would also like to thank the Two Ridings Community Foundation for managing our donation and their hard work so far, we have full confidence that they will ensure that it is used in the best possible way.

Jan Garill, Chief Executive of Two Ridings Community Foundation said: “The donation from Ard Rock reflects the special place this community has for all the people involved in the Ard Rock event. We will ensure that the Fund’s donation is used to help people in the affected area get back on their feet again. But in the meantime, the Dales are open for business as usual, so do continue to visit and support our amazing community”.