Ben Reid used a child's bike for his long-distance fundraising ride
“In its earliest inception, it was gonna be on a unicycle. But I realised very quickly that I can't actually ride a unicycle.”
Thankfully, Ben Reid decided to move away from that idea. He has recently completed a hugely ambitious fundraising challenge, in which he rode 148 miles from Manchester to Newcastle. He might have left the unicycle behind, but he did do it on a truly tiny child's bike.
But of course, none of this was just for fun. The 21-year-old took on his challenge in order to give something back to Cobalt Studios – a family-run music venue and arts space in Newcastle. He ultimately raised more than £2,500 and is thrilled to have had chance to support a venue that means a lot to him.
“It's a very special place to me. I've never been anywhere like it. They've given me a lot in the last three years while I've been at uni,” says Ben. “Kate and Mark, who run it, they've been pivotal in my university experience - almost like a second family to me. I felt like I should give something back before I left Newcastle.”
Cobalt operates on the principle that arts and culture should be available to everyone, smashing the idea that these cultural spaces are only for those who can afford to access them. For 36 weeks of the year, they operate a “varied programme” of cultural events, including live music and club nights.
“I think culture often feels like it belongs to people who've had cultural educations and cultural spaces are quite hard to enter,” says founder Kate Hodgkinson. She described Ben’s fundraising as an “absolute godsend” for the venue while its doors are closed over the summer months. “The level of our need is really high at the moment. Live music, in particular, really does lose a lot of money and we never ask anyone to play for free. It is absolutely going towards supporting live music.”
Ben carried out his fundraiser for Cobalt Studios in Newcastle
Ben told Kate about the fundraiser during a noisy club night at Cobalt and, before long, he was getting on the bike for the four-day journey, in which he travelled as far as 38 miles on one of the days.
“I didn't do any physical training, which I maybe should've done. There was one day on the Richmond to Durham leg. I'd sort of let my guard down because I was smashing it every day,” admits Ben. “It was a very rough day.”
For Ben, the fundraiser was not just about Cobalt, but about a wider sense of trying to restore a bit of community spirit. He believes that those who cherish and benefit from local, independent venues should try to support them, otherwise they could be forced to close their doors for good.
He says: “I think people don't rally behind their communities enough. As well as raising funds for Cobalt and awareness for the wider venue closure scene, I think it's important to take away the fact that there's nothing stopping you from doing something about it. When did we lose that community spirit of rallying behind everything?”
Kate says it was “really rewarding and incredibly sweet” to see someone who has been able to benefit from Cobalt’s services choosing to give back and support the organisation. She adds: “We can get quite low. It's a lifestyle, not a job. We work a huge amount of hours every week and it's often like 'why are we doing this?', so the fact that he's done it for us is not just a financial boost but absolutely a psychological boost too.”
Ben reveals that he has felt a sense of relief since completing the fundraiser, knowing he won’t have to get on that bike for a gruelling day of riding again. With that said, though, he didn’t rule out another fundraiser in the future.
“I believe the bike's gonna be going up on the wall at Cobalt, so I might have to unscrew it and recommission it. You never know.”
To find out more about Ben's fundraiser and Cobalt Studios, check out his JustGiving page.
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