Miller staff get in their biker groove

Miller Homes’ employee Carla Hives, from Kingsbury in Warwickshire, completed her sponsored leg of the company’s charity bike ride, dubbed “le Tour de Miller” earlier this week and announced that she felt great after the 58 mile trek.

Secretary to Miller Homes West Midlands’ managing director, Carla, joined the tour from the housebuilder’s East Midlands’ office in Derby and rode to the West Midlands’ base in Solihull in under seven hours.

Carla joined other Miller staff, Craig Ferrans and Simon Hatch, who have organised the whole journey from Glasgow to Berkshire. She has managed to raise over £700 so far for her part in the tour on behalf of the West Midlands’ branch of the UK’s largest privately owned housebuilder. The cyclists, who were also joined by East Midlands Land Secretary, Sarah Reading for this leg, managed to beat their schedule and arrive at the destination an hour early.

Just minutes after passing the finish line, Carla said: “I feel great, I’m so pleased that I took part and the most important thing is the amount of money we’ve been able to make for such great causes.”

The money is being raised for Habitat for Humanity, which is an international charity with representation in 100 countries. Their vision is to eliminate sub-standard housing and homelessness. The charity campaigns tirelessly to increase access for all people to affordable shelter by helping people in need to build or renovate a home.

Habitat for Humanity's new campaign challenges people to sign up and become a HopeBuilder and donate or raise £1,235 to build a home for a family currently living in poverty. This money will pay for all materials and labour (most of which is done voluntarily by the new homepartner family and others) needed to build a typical habitat house in the developing world. Craig and Simon, along with help from Carla and other staff, are hoping to raise enough cash to build nine homes – one for each Miller region.

Simon Hatch said: “A couple of years ago Miller had a big charity event with the NHBC and raised around £18,000 and we would love to emulate that figure. If we could break it that would be a fantastic achievement and would mean we can provide Habitat for Humanity with the funds to build nine new homes and also provide a good donation for our other chosen charities, The Prince’s Trust and Sustrans who are helping us with the tour.”

The Prince's Trust is a UK charity which helps young people overcome barriers through practical support, including training, mentoring and financial assistance. They help 14-30 year olds realise their potential and transform their lives.

Sustrans is the UK's leading sustainable transport charity. Their vision is a world in which people can choose to travel in ways that benefit their health and the environment. Every day they are working on practical, innovative ways of dealing with the transport challenges that affect us all.

Simon and Craig will be completing their 720 mile trip on 21 April. The two cyclists have been in training since November and are confident they will be able to stick to the demanding schedule.

For more information about Miller Homes, visit Millerhomes.co.uk.