Gary Edwards along with friends, Stuart Hubbard and Steven Hunt, took on Birmingham Hospice’s Ride the Reservoir in memory of their friend Neil Stokes who was looked after by the hospice in the last week of his life in December 2024.
At 15, Gary and Neil lived across the road from each other in Bromsgrove and quickly became friends, they went to the same school together and formed a friendship group with Stuart and Steven.
As adults they all moved to different areas of the UK, with only Neil staying local in Kings Norton, however, they all remained close and would meet up regularly. In early December 2024, after struggling with his health for some time, Neil was told he had oesophageal cancer and stomach cancer. “This was a huge bombshell,” Gary recalled. ”He was initially told he could be treated with chemotherapy, but unfortunately this wasn’t the case, and within a week he was taken into hospital and we were told he would only live for a matter of weeks.”
Neil was then referred to Birmingham Hospice and cared for in the Inpatient Unit from 19th December where Gary, Stuart and Steven went to see him on the Sunday before Christmas. Gary said: “The nurses were incredible, and the facilities were amazing, it was just a lovely place to be given the hugely difficult circumstances.
“I was due to go and see him again on Boxing Day, but woke at 6am to the news he had passed away earlier that morning.” The friends made the decision, that, when the time was right, they would do something for the hospice in Neil’s memory. When they heard about Ride the Reservoir, the hospice’s cycle sportive, the timing worked, and Neil’s son Tyler was able to join them too.
Incredibly the event route took them past some of their old drinking haunts, Gary said: “The Gate pub in Bournheath held so many wonderful memories from our youth and was the halfway point of the ride, so all our friends and family were waiting for us there,” – including Neil’s wife Jo and their children, Charlie, Laura and Tom, “it was incredibly emotional.”
“The event was fantastic – I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect, especially the smooth organisation.
“Having never cycled around Bromsgrove when I lived there, I was genuinely taken aback by how beautiful the roads around Birmingham are. The route was fabulous, with minimal traffic, making it feel both safe and scenic.
The little touches, like the well-placed refreshment stops, made a big difference. I couldn’t recommend it highly enough.”
As a team they raised an incredible £5,000, largely thanks to generous donations from family and friends, and hope to take on the event again next year.
