Mecca Bingo and Rank have a Whizz-Kid Chief Executive

Ian Burke the Chief Executive of Rank Group which owns online bingo site Mecca Bingo, has just completed a charity cycle race the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour to raise money for charity. The super fit Chief Exec is no stranger to exercise as he was the Chief Executive of Holmes Place Health and Fitness prior to securing his current position with Rank in March 2006. Ian decided to participate in the race to raise funds for Mecca Bingo ’s preferred charity, Whizz-Kidz which raises funds to help disabled children with mobility difficulties.

Mecca Bingo has been assisting Whizz-Kidz with their fund raising efforts since January 2008 and have managed to donate a massive £300,000 to this very worthy cause. Whizz-Kidz will benefit to the tune of £16,000 for Ian’s successful bike ride which took just under five and half hours to complete. Ian raised a total of £20,000 from supporters for his valiant efforts; the remainder of the sum total raised will go to other charities close to Ian’s heart.

The charity cycling event, the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour took place at the Cape of Good Hope Peninsula in South Africa on Sunday 8^th March, and required cycling the 109km route in the best time possible in aid of charity. This year’s event was dogged by extreme weather conditions, hampering the overall performance of all the participants. There were almost 30,000 cyclists that turned up to take part in this exciting cycle tour, however only 27,000 went on to finish the race, the 100kmph winds doing little to assist the progress of the cyclists.

The first cycle tour race took place in 1977 and was organised by Bill Mylrea and John Stegmann. The next race is on 14^th March 2010.