The Benevolent to hold bike ride in memory of Dan Townsend

The Benevolent will hold a charity bike ride in August in memory of its former chairman and Treasury Wine Estate managing director, Dan Townsend.

The 64.1 mile charity bike ride is set to take place on Sunday 13 August 2017 with the aim of raising £10,000 for the drinks charity, The Benevolent.

Dan Townsend, a much-loved member of the drinks trade, very sadly passed away in March this year at the age of 53. During his career, he worked for the likes of Scottish Courage, Matthew Clark, Constellation Europe and Louis Latour, before becoming manager director of Treasury Wine Estates and the proud chairman of The Benevolent.

Conviviality PLCs group wine buying director, Andrew Shaw, and Hatch Mansfield’s wine director Philip Tuck MW initially put forward the idea.

The ride will pass through several English wine estates, beginning at Ridgeview Wine Estate in Sussex at 10am. After ascending Leith Hill, the highest summit in Surrey, the riders will take a short break at Denbies Wine Estate in Dorking. The peloton will then continue through Box Hill (part of the Olympic cycling route) reaching Treasury Wine Estates’ head office in Twickenham for a much-needed rest and post-ride refreshments.

Managing director of William Reed Business Media and trustee of The Benevolent, Andrew Reed, and managing director of Mentzendorff, Andrew Hawes, will also be donning their lycra and embarking on the charity peddle.

Dan Townsend, who sadly passed away in March this year.

The Benevolent extends an invitation to fellow bike riders in the drinks trade to join them to celebrate Dan’s life and help to raise £10,000 for the charity that he so passionately supported during his life.

Andrew Shaw, Conviviality’s group wine buying director commented: ”It’s a great honour to be supporting The Benevolent in aid of Dan, a man in whom the drinks industry had great admiration and respect for.

“Our intention is to have as wider audience as possible involved, both cyclists and supporters to help commemorate a great man. We are indebted to Ridgeview, Denbies and especially to Treasury Wine Estates for their kind and generous support of the event and look forward to a memorable day of camaraderie, sport and friendship”.

David Cox, The Benevolent’s CEO, said: “This is such an appropriate way to remember Dan and we are indebted to the organising team and to members of TWE for making it happen. Dan loved The Benevolent and so I urge everyone to support the riders. “

To join the bike riders, please register yourself to the official Eventbrite page here.

To make a donation, please visit the official JustGiving page here.