British TV and radio presenter Paddy McGuinness has completed a gruelling and emotional 300-mile charity ride aboard a Raleigh Chopper.
The British personality pedalled from Wrexham to Glasgow, crossing from Wales, through England to Scotland across five days, and raising money for Children in Need. At the point he finished his ride on Friday morning, McGuinness had raised an astonishing £7,556,000.
“Honestly I can’t believe it. I came out of East Kilbride, I was looking at Glasgow and it was lit up in sunshine. Then coming in here and the streets were lined,” he said. “What a sight. What a feeling. Thank you so much, everybody.”
McGuinness, 51, rode the final stretch of his charity epic alongside businessman and philanthropist Sir Tom Hunter, who agreed to match donations up to £3 million through the Hunter Foundation.
The pair arrived at the BBC studios in Glasgow, to the tune of Scotland the Brave, around 10:30am on Friday morning. There, Radio 2 presenter Zoe Ball praised McGuinness for completing “a herculean task”, while singer Chesney Hawkes serenaded him with a rendition of his hit song ‘The One and Only’.
“Every morning when I woke up, everything was aching, and it was always dark and cold,” said McGuinness, who rode around 70 miles a day. “I’ve been saying it for the last few days, when you get on the bike and you get on the road, and everyone comes out, it just spurs you on.
“Until you’re actually in that moment, I’ll never be able to get it across what it felt like; all the different sounds, all the cities, all the communities, everyone came out.
“It was just so beautiful to see. The streets were lined with people. It’s a moment in time I’ll take with me to my grave. It was so amazing, I’ll never forget it.”
McGuinness had originally hoped to raise £1 million for Children in Need, the BBC’s annual fundraising telethon. He met that milestone on day one, breaking down in tears when he did so. “I thought if I really push hard enough and people get behind me, I thought, ‘Imagine raising £1 million for Children in Need and the help it’ll do to the kids’,” he said.
The TV personality was joined at points by six-time Olympic gold medallist Sir Chris Hoy, first on a pre-challenge training ride, and then again while en route.
“On Monday I’m going to walk down to the shop and it’ll be weird without people beeping their horns and waving, and me waving back,” McGuinness said. “You know I’m really going to miss it. I’ve absolutely loved being involved in this challenge.
“It’s a real privilege for anyone who does it, and just to say the sheer amount of fantastic people in this country is just wonderful.”
Children in Need’s telethon will be live on the BBC this evening, with donations still able to me made to McGuinness’s challenge. A documentary about the five-day ride will be aired next Tuesday.
