Kind-hearted staff from Suffolk Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust are taking part in a sponsored cycle ride for the Alzheimers Society.

Around 14 clerical and clinical staff and their partners will cycle 100 km (62 miles) starting and finishing at the Greene King Brewery in Cullum Road, Bury St Edmunds on Sunday, 3rd July. The staff taking part all work on the Later Life mental health ward, Westgate, at West Suffolk Hospital.

The ride is part of a ‘Miles for Memories’ event being run by the Alzheimers Society.

The Later Life team has set up an exercise routine and cycling routes around the town to enable them to train together.

The ride is the brainchild of Later Life staff nurse, Lisa Paterson. She said: “We work with patients with Alzheimers every day. There is a desperate need for more research into the condition and we wanted to do what we could to help.”

“It’s going to be hard but it’s also going to be fun,” added ward secretary, Doreen Linge.

Staff are hoping to raise at least £500. There are sponsorship forms on the ward. Alternatively, anyone wishing to sponsor a rider can contact them via 01284 719788.

Suffolk Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust works in partnership to provide mental health services to people in the county of Suffolk, with the exclusion of Waveney, and in the town of Thetford in Norfolk. It also provides substance misuse services and learning disability services to the county of Suffolk.