Civilian Instructor Peter Keeble, with No 221 (Gt Yarmouth) Squadron, Air Training Corps, took part in a fund-raising motorcycle ride through Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire, on Mothers' Day.
Civilian Instructor Peter Keeble, with No 221 (Gt Yarmouth) Squadron, Air Training Corps, took part in a fund-raising motorcycle ride through Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire, on Mothers' Day.
The ride, by a record-breaking 22,000 bikers, was planned by 18-year-old Lizzie Stevens as her way of saying thank you to the people of the town for their ongoing display of sympathy and honour for servicemen and women killed in the Afghan War. But what started out as a tribute for a few dozen riders soon caught the imagination of the biking community and quickly grew at such a rate that registrations had to be closed prematurely.
The �5 entry fee and sales of commemorative T-shirts and flags are expected to have raised more than �100,000 for the Afghan Heroes charity.
The bikers gathered at Hullavington Airfield and then made their way through Wootton Bassett in waves of 500 every 15 minutes.
Peter, who rides a Suzuki Burgman AN650, said: "The day was an amazing experience with a huge show of support by local people who turned out en masse to see the cavalcade of bikes. Everywhere we rode through was full of cheering, smiling people waving flags and clapping!" He handed over a cheque for �40 donated by the cadets of 221 Squadron at their recent annual dinner.
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