A team of cyclists from Tong Garden Centre completed the challenging Tour de Yorkshire sportive recently and raised £4,259 for its charity of the year, Bradford Stories.

The team of nine, including directors, staff, suppliers and friends, rode 80km on some of the the same roads as the fourth and final stage of the Tour de Yorkshire pro race.

The ride included 1,228m of ascent, but riders were rewarded with stunning views along the route. Tong Garden Centre Managing Director, Mark Farnsworth said: "Bradford Stories is a fantastic initiative from the National Literacy Trust and Bradford Council to improve literacy levels in the city by promoting reading, writing, speaking and listening.

"As a business, Tong would like to raise £10,000 for them this year. I was joined on the ride by my fellow directors Charlie and David and we set ourselves a challenging fundraising target of £4,000, so we're naturally delighted to have exceeded it.

"There's still time to donate though, so if you'd like to support us, please visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tong-garden-centre."

Imran Hafeez, Manager of the National Literacy Trust Hub in Bradford, said: "Congratulations to Mark and the team for this fantastic achievement. Not only did you all finish in one piece, and with times just over the four hour mark, but you have raised a magnificent amount for the National Literacy Trust.

"Our mission is to ensure that disadvantaged children have the reading, writing, speaking and listening skills needed for education and to lead a successful life, and we can only achieve this with your help."

The team at Tong aims to raise the £10,000 through a series of fund-raising events and collection boxes at the tills.

The Bradford Stories campaign focuses on sharing stories across the city, engaging dads in their child's learning and the benefits of bilingualism.