On Wednesday 01 November the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence, Rt Hon Tobias Ellwood MP, the Director General of The Royal British Legion, and over 80 Members of Parliament raced alongside serving members of The Armed Forces on an exercise bike to raise money for The Royal British Legion’s annual Poppy Appeal.

The 12 hour bike ride was held from 08:00 to 20:00 in Parliament and aimed to raise money for the Legion’s national Poppy Appeal. Anneliese Dodds MP represented her constituency of Oxford East cycling as far as she could in 5 minutes, with the hope of topping the leaderboard, beating their colleagues. Anneliese managed to cycle 2.94km in 5 minutes, coming third amongst her female colleagues.

The bike ride was organised by the Industry and Parliament Trust (IPT) and The Royal British Legion following on from the successful bike ride held in 2016. This year’s race emphasised that The Royal British Legion will once again be asking the nation to ‘Rethink Remembrance’ and consider the meaning of the poppy as a symbol of Remembrance and hope.

MPs were encouraged to donate as they take part, with all of the money raised on the day going to help The Royal British Legion provide lifelong support for the Armed Forces community.

Anneliese Dodds MP said:

“I would like to thank the IPT and The Royal British Legion for arranging this event. The Royal British Legion provides invaluable support to The Armed Forces community; I am pleased to have been able to support such a worthy cause in such an enjoyable way, and coming third amongst other women taking part was a bonus too.”