Cheers - Hebburn pub's sponsored bike ride raises £8,000 for poorly youngster

A total of 36 riders completed a 20-mile cycle on Sunday in aid of five-year-old Sophia Shaw, who is battling cancer after having an operation to remove a tumour from her brain.

They started and ended at Dougie’s Tavern, in Hebburn, and expect to have raised between £7,000 and £8,000.

It is going towards a drive to raise £125,000 for Sophie who has a lesion at the base of her spine.

Chemotherapy would be a dangerous option, so she now requires specialist treatment in London.

Dougie’s Tavern’s promotions manager Norman Scott, who came up with the bike ride idea , said: “It was tricky, there were a few inclines with hills here, there and everywhere.

"I also didn’t realise how windy it would be. But we all got there and everyone was a winner.

"Certain ones crossed the line in one hour 35 minutes and the last one about two hours 35 minutes.

"At the end of the day they have raised about £7,000 or £8,000 for the bairn and that’s what it’s all about.”

Sophia underwent an operation after the brain tumour was discovered when she fell ill in August 2020.

Just a month after she was given the all-clear the consultant revealed Sophia had a ‘spot’ on her spine.

Her parents, Matt Shaw and Tracy Statt, who live in Carville, Durham, researched alternative treatment methods.

Staff and regulars at Dougie’s Tavern have raised thousands for Sophia including a recent auction which raised £1,400.

Each rider in Sunday’s event paid £5 to enter and raised individual sponsorship.

More money came if they could catch “The Fox”, a runner wearing a fox mask and bushy tail, who was given a nine-mile head start.

He gave £1 to the cause for each of the eight riders who caught him, while those who didn’t had to pay £5.

The route took in Tyne Dock; the Alum House pub, in South Shields, Marsden Grotto, Seaburn, Sunderland Greyhound Stadium, Cleadon and Boldon.

The weary riders returned to the pub afterwards for an afternoon of fun and entertainment.

Anyone who wants to help Sophia can give at www.gofundme.com/f/sophias-next-chapter.