On 5th June 2010 a group of bikers, hailing from all sectors of the entertainment technology industry, swapped their blacks for leathers and their hard hats for helmets and embarked on an eight-day sponsored motorbike tour of UK theatres to raise money for The Theatrical Guild (TTG).
David Edelstein, who co-organised the event with his wife Brenda, comments: “We set out from the National Theatre following a hearty breakfast. In total we rode over 1600 miles and on the way visited 16 fascinating and unique theatres. We’ve been welcomed by some wonderfully hospitable and generous theatre staff and are hugely grateful for all the brilliant support we received everywhere. Sponsorship came from all sectors of the entertainment industry and we certainly couldn’t have done it without them.”
Those who took to the road were: Rob Barnard and Al Parkinson, Neil Collins, David Edelstein, Charles Haines, Darrell Hewitt, Chris Higgs, Simon Nicholls, Michael Powell, Jack Tilbury, Sarah Rushton-Read and Mike Cucciare and Bill Sapsis from the USA.
Iain Gillie, executive producer from The Curve, Mark Cunningham from Audio Bull and Canford Audio’s sales and marketing director, Dave Holloway, joined the ride along the way. Stephen Pennington, Brenda Edelstein and Karen Nicholls, administrator of The Theatrical Guild, accompanied by Robert Hamilton and Scott Miller from Canada, drove the Chase cars.
Check out what The First Night Riders got up to on their blog and flick through some fascinating photos of the theatres they visited including: The original Victorian stage machinery at The Tyne Theatre and Opera House and the latest power flying technology at The Curve, Leicester at: http://firstnightriders.ning.com/profiles/blog/list
If you are feeling generous you can still sponsor riders at: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/SarahRushton-Read
And if you are interested in getting involved in any capacity or taking part next year please visit the First Night Riders stand at PLASA 2010.
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