A team of 10 colleagues and friends from pipework supplier Altecnic have raised over £11,000 for charity during a 1,200 kilometre cycle ride over the Alps from Stafford to Milan.
Covering up to 200km a day, the team started their charity challenge from Altecnic's company headquarters in Stafford and finished the gruelling eight-day ride at parent company Caleffi's Italian manufacturing facility in Fontaneto D'Agogna to raise money for Shine Together, Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research and Katharine House Hospice.

The route took the team through the Switzerland and over the High Alps via the famous Grand St Bernard pass. In an astonishing feat of endurance the 10 cyclists climbed over 10,000 metres to travel over the mountainous terrain of the Alps and into Italy.

The colleagues from Altecnic and Caleffi, raised funds for Katharine House Hospice, a charity that has helped and supported many people in Stafford, as well as Leukaemia & Lymphona Research, which works tirelessly to beat blood cancers.

Shine Together, the charity for Frenchay and Southmead hospitals, has also been chosen by event organiser Dave Hart, who came up with the idea for the Gran Charity Giro after suffering an accident which left his back broken in two places. He was treated and made a full recovery at the hospitals, and was inspired to raise thousands of pounds for charity.