Strangers were so impressed with teachers who took to two wheels in memory of a beloved pupil that they stopped to hand over cash for the cause.
Nine staff members set off on Sunday from Nower Hill High School in George V Avenue, Pinner, for a 36-mile sponsored bike ride to Windsor Castle in Windsor, Berkshire, to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH) in the name of Devaanshi Mehta.
The 15-year-old, of Manor Road, Harrow, died in June of the rare bone marrow condition aplastic anaemia. She had started the Asian Donor Campaign to encourage more people to donate blood and blood products, and join the bone marrow register and regularly organised fundraisers to benefit the hospital.
George Nagle, assistant headteacher, said: “It was a fun day, with lots of sore backs and legs, and I was personally very impressed with the quality of the cycling.
“We did the round trip in about 3 1/2 to 4 hours. The weather was fantastic and there was no issue with injury or cramping on the journey.
“We were all wearing purple sponsored T-shirts and on the way back, a car pulled over by me and the driver wound down the window and said: ‘Can I give you £5?’
“Then a colleague of mine, Nicole, was on her way back when a car pulled up and a lady asked if she could give a donate. She gave £50, which was amazing.
“Our van driver, Baldev, had a car pull in front and a man said: ‘Here you are, £10 for GOSH. It means our total will reach more than £1,000.”
Mr Nagle cycled with a giant 2D cupcake crafted out of felt attached to the steering column of his bike as it was a handmade present given to him for a joke by Devaanshi when she was ill in hospital.
“I thought it was a bit of fun,” said the assistant head. “I asked her to knit me a tea with milk to wash it down with!”
The sponsored annual ride was the school’s fourth, the first two being to Brighton and the most recent two being switched to Windsor Castle because it is a more practical distance.
Devaanshi had been at the school gates to wave them off on previous trips and she was sorely missed, Mr Nagle said.
