MEMBERS of LiDBA celebrated achieving a milestone target at this year’s charity bike ride presentation evening, after reaching the impressive total of £1,008,731 raised over the last 25 years.

This year’s successful ride had 800 riders participating in the main event as well as a record number of 216 children completing the junior ride, raising £41,094, which helped to reach the £1m target.

East Hampshire MP Damian Hinds sent a message of congratulations to the organisers on the night, stating: “What an amazing achievement by LiDBA - 25 years and more than £1m raised!

“I am constantly inspired by the work done by local community groups to raise funds for local charities, and none more so than LiDBA.

“The annual bike ride has become a firm fixture in the calendar and is a terrific way to bring the whole community together, not only to raise money through sponsorship but also to get people out on their bikes enjoying the wonderful countryside around Liphook.

“Congratulations to everyone involved.”

Some 80 local charities have benefited each year from the magnificent efforts of the LiDBA members down the decades.

LiDBA stalwart John Pidgeon told The Herald: “Many LiDBA members have worked hard in organising the bike rides for more than 20 years, numerous riders have participated many times and our principal sponsor, Owens Cycles, has supported the ride for the past 15 years.”

The annual ride will continue from now on under the new management of the Liphook Crankers, with proceeds going to the charities directly – or via LiDBA as before.

Alistair Halliday, representing the Crankers, said: “It is a real honour for us all in the Liphook Crankers to be given this opportunity to take on the management of this iconic bike ride which has become such a huge success for the village over the past 25 years – and is a jewel in the calendar.

“The 2015 ride was once again a real triumph and it was very useful for us to be able to understudy the LiDBA team to understand what is required in making it such a successful event. We look forward to working with all the charities, businesses, volunteers and organisations that have played their part in making it all work so smoothly and hope that as many as possible will be able to continue their support next year.

“We will be going live with the website with some details for the next bike ride on June 12, and will shortly be writing to Liphook businesses about sponsorship opportunities.

“We would just like to reassure everyone that nothing will change - the ride will be called the Liphook Bike Ride (LBR), it will start and finish at Bohunt Centre and cover the same 25 mile route.

“The LBR logo is very similar as before, featuring the well-known cyclist, and we are adding live Twitter and Facebook pages as well as online registration.

“Once again we would like to pay tribute to the amazing organisation, enthusiasm and tremendous work of the LIDBA association that has planned and executed such a wonderfully successful event over the past 25 years.

“We feel privileged to be able to have this opportunity to retain this great event as one of the premier events in the Liphook calendar.”