Braveheart Fund events last weekend raise £30k for young Scottish talent

Aspiring pro cyclists from Scotland will benefit to the tune of £30,000 following last week’s annual ride, dinner and auction for the Braveheart Fund.

Set up by former British champion turned TV pundit Brian Smith and Alan Miller, this year’s event – the 11th since it was founded – was attended by recently retired pro, David Millar.

The former Garmin-Sharp rider was joined by one of his ex-team mates from the American ProTour outfit, Nathan Haas.

Riders funded by Braveheart as they sought to get their careers off the ground were also at the dinner in Kilmarnock.

They included Andrew Fenn, who has signed for Team Sky for 2015, multiple British track champion Callum Skinner, and women’s national criterium champion, Eileen Roe.

The latter, aged 25 and from Fife has signed to Wiggle Honda in recent days, and was congratulated enthusiastically for her achievements by Millar, as the photo above shows.

Saturday morning saw 500 riders participate in the 45-mile Braveheart Ride, and many stayed on until the evening for the dinner, which was accompanied by a charity auction.

Lots going under the hammer included a day with Smith and the MTB-Qhubeka UCI Professional Continental team go for £3,200, while a cardboard cutout of Sean Kelly – there in person on the evening – sold for £900.

Braveheart Fund co-founder and organiser Miller said: “As usual, a massive thanks to everyone who helped with the event and put their hands in their pockets, it’s safe to say it was a good weekend and that a new crop of young talent will benefit in 2015.”