Lambretta scooter owner’s marathon ride to say thank you to cancer charity

Raising money for Cancer Research was a cause close to the heart of Lambretta scooter owner Mark Bedson when he took part in a sponsored ride from Land’s End to John O’Groats earlier this year.

Mark, 42, from Stoke on Trent, who works as a heavy goods vehicle technician for West Pennine Trucks, has so far raised £550 for the charity by taking part in the ride with 41 fellow members of the Lambretta Club of Great Britain.

The 950-mile trip, undertaken in very wet weather, took them four days and has so far raised around £15,000 for Cancer Research.

Mark’s wife Linda, her sister Sharon Brown and their mum Jean, were all diagnosed with breast cancer within the space of six months and, thankfully, all three have been treated successfully.

“They all had cancer at the same time and have now been given the all clear, which is fantastic news,” explained Mark. “It was nice to raise money to support the charity, if only in a small way, to say thank you for the great work they do and for helping my wife, sister-in-law and mother-in-law to combat breast cancer.

“I would like to thank all those who have sponsored me and given their support to this deserving charity. The ride was truly memorable and the weather awful, apart from one decent day between Jedburgh and Fort William.”

Mark and Linda, who both own Lambretta scooters, have recently returned from a riding holiday to Switzerland and hope to travel to Austria next summer. “We have been riding Lambrettas for 20 years or more and as our scooter owning friends dropped out, we have carried on and enjoyed every minute,” added Mark.

His sponsored ride was supported by Shrewsbury-based independent lubricants specialist Morris Lubricants, which provided the Sport Action 2:2 Stroke oil for his journey from Cornwall to the northern top of Scotland.

Mark is a big fan of Morris Lubricants’ products, having consistently used the oil in his 1967 Lambretta, car and at work in the trucks for many years. “I recommend Morris Lubricants’ oils to people because they are so good,” he said.

“Whenever I strip down my Lambretta for regular maintenance, I always find that everything inside the engine has a nice, oily, lubricating coating, which shows that not all the oil gets burnt in the petrol.”

Morris Lubricants’ managing director Andrew Goddard said the company was pleased to have been associated with raising money for such a good cause. “We are always willing to prove the performance of our products in the harshest of trials and we appreciate the positive feedback from Mark,” he added.