Team is set for cancer bike ride (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Team is set for cancer bike ride

8:31am Sunday 17th February 2008 in

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Colleagues from Ilkley are dusting off their bikes as they prepare to take part in a 127-mile charity bike ride along the Leeds Liverpool Canal.

The team of ten, who all work at Optident, will be cycling the route over three days from May 9 to 11. They are raising money for the Mouth Cancer Foundation.

Sales director John Maloney said: "The Mouth Cancer Foundation has worked very hard but there is still only growing awareness of this disease. Several people at work have also been directly affected by cancer so we really wanted to raise money for a good cause."

Mouth cancers have a higher proportion of deaths per number of cases than breast cancer, cervical cancer or skin melanoma. In the UK, there has been a 19 per cent increase in cases from 3,673 in 1995 to 4,405 in 2002 and 13,000 people in the UK are currently living in the shadow of this debilitating disease.

The mortality rate from mouth cancer is just over 50 per cent due to late detection.

The team consists of managing director Tim Butterfield, sales director John Maloney, Chris Leetham, James Fowler, Richard Walker, Steven Hepton, Rob Bridgewater and Rebecca Fowler.

The team will be joined by dentists Philip Broughton, 41 and Alastair Macdonald, 44.