Bristol Biking Girls riding group raise money for Air Ambulances UK with charity calendar

Female riding group, Bristol Biking Girls have created a charity calendar for 2024, raising money for Air Ambulances UK and commemorating their founder who tragically died following a motorcycle accident last year.

Bristol Biking Girls was founded by Steph Robertson in 2016 initially to find others to ride with locally. By 2020 it had grown to over 300 members, with activities ranging from ride-outs and maintenance classes to trackdays.

That year also saw the group produce their first charity calendar to raise money for ovarian cancer support group, Ovacome. This was in memory of former member, Chilie Davies, who sadly died of cancer two years earlier.

“We wanted to continue Steph’s legacy of basically getting more women into riding,” group member Hiba Hamid told MCN. “With the nature of her passing, the air ambulance was involved, so that’s why we’ve chosen that as our charity.”

“It’s in varied locations around Bristol,” continued Hiba. “Some of the ladies were in the calendar last time, some are completely new to the group and riding. We’ve [got] various ages and a varied range of bikes, from 125s to 1200s.”

Of the group’s now near 700-strong membership, 24 ladies modelled with their bikes, with two pictures per page shot by professional photographer and group member, Sophie April.

“The ladies actually paid for their photo shoot,” Hiba continued. “That money then goes towards the charity, so as well as having their photograph in the calendar they get their own album of photos.

“I think Steph would be amazed, blown away by it. It’s nice to see ladies who did it a few years ago, how much they’ve changed, some who’ve gone on to bigger bikes. And it’s nice to see new ladies and fresh faces as well.”

The Bristol Biking Girls 2024 Charity Calendar costs £15 and is available to pre-order now via bristolbikinggirls.co.uk. It can also be collected in person and is being sold via some local bike shops.