The trip will take riders to venues up and down the UK and raise much needed funds for The Theatrical Guild (TTG) - a charity dedicated to supporting individuals who have been or are currently employed in professional theatre - backstage and front of house.
The First Night Riders will depart from outside London's National Theatre on 5 June 2010 and will return just in time for the start of the Theatre Engineering & Architecture Conference on 13 June 2010. In all, riders will cover 1400 miles in eight days and finish up at Hampstead Theatre, North London. The trip will take in Glyndebourne, Bath, Wales, The Lake District, Scotland, Newcastle, The Yorkshire Dales and Stratford upon Avon.
First Night Rider Sponsors include: ABTT, Blitz Sound, Cameron Mackintosh, Charcoalblue, ETC, Hall Stage, Harmer PR, Howard Eaton, J&C Joel, PLASA, Prompt Side and Triple E.
Tilbury says, "We were delighted to discover that a number of the venues that the First Night Riders will be visiting are Charcoalblue projects - old and new. Although we revisit our venues on a regular basis it's always a pleasure to make some extra, more social, house calls. I've been riding bikes for 15 years, but mostly only London commuting. This provides me with the perfect excuse - if one were needed - to catch up with some old friends, visit some fantastic places and show off our work to the other participants on the ride - and of course help raise money for a very worthy cause."
Rushton-Read will be hosting a blog - see http://firstnightriders.ning.com. The site will feature video, podcast, photographic and editorial from all participants and encompass virtual tours of the theatres, interviews with the people we meet and interesting news and views collected along the way.
Rushton-Read says, "I'm very much looking forward to visiting so many fine theatres and meeting up with some good old friends along the way. In terms of raising money, Jack and I are prepared to fulfil any reasonable requests potential sponsors might have in exchange for their cold hard cash. Our challenge to everyone is; get your thinking caps on and your wallets out and dream up a fun reason to give us your money."
The event is still open to anyone with a suitable motorcycle, bike and sidecar or scooter. Vehicles should have at least a 100-mile range to minimise fuel stops. The event is also open to riders on a daily basis.
(Jim Evans)
