BMX club picked to stage big races
Volunteers at Telford’s BMX race club are preparing to host three major events – making it the busiest year in the history of the club.
Wrekin Riders BMX Race Club in Dawley will host a Midlands regional round, two rounds of the national British BMX Series and also the Midlands Championships this year.
The Midlands regional round will be held on Sunday, the British BMX Series will be held on August 4 and 5 and the Midlands Championships on September 30.
Volunteers have been working around the clock after the national standard track won funding to have floodlights installed and some further work to enhance the track and the trackside areas for spectators and team gazebos.
The floodlights are now in operation and has resulted in riders regularly travelling from all over the region to ride when the weather has allowed.
Volunteers are hoping the better weather will allow them to remain open as much as possible.
Kieran Edwards, club chairman and coach said: “This is a massive year for Wrekin Riders and also for Telford.
“It has been an appalling start to the year due to the weather which has resulted in the track being closed and much of the hard work being undone.
“It is ironic that as soon as the floodlights were operational, the weather was so bad we couldn’t open.
“We work hard to keep the track to the fantastic standard people are used to here at Wrekin and then the wet weather has been undoing that and we’ve had to start again.
“Being closed impacts on our income as every penny the riders pay goes back into the club so we are hoping the warm weather will now give us a much needed boost.
“It is very exciting to be hosting three major events here in Telford in what is the 50th anniversary year for the town.”
Kieran’s wife Jo, club treasurer, said: “This is a massive year for Wrekin Riders with a regional race, two national rounds and the Mid Champs all being held at our track.
“It is a huge amount of work to pull these events off and we only have a very small number of dedicated volunteers but it is all worth it at the end of each event.
“We attracted more than 750 riders to our National round in 2016 with more than 200 families camping and many more staying in hotels so it is a great boost for the local economy.
“As it is a two day event and within the school holidays many BMX families make it into a summer holiday to visit the tourist areas of Shropshire such as Ironbridge.
“However we very much rely on the support of our sponsors such as National Windscreens to pull these events off.
“We offer trackside sponsorship for just £300 a year for local businesses to have their banners up to advertise their business and would be grateful of any donations of materials, gardening equipment or raffle prizes to enhance our offering.”
The club, which boasts a £250,000 national standard track, was successful in the application to host two rounds of the British BMX Series after hosting the event for the first time in 2016.
Anybody who would like to support the club should email Wrekinriders@outlook.com or follow them on Facebook @WrekinRiders
