A CHEQUE for more than £15,000 has been handed to the Great Oaks Hospice in memory of a  Cinderford  man.   

The money was raised by 10 colleagues of Jon Best who cycled nearly 500 miles in five days.   

Keen cyclist  Mr  Best had been helping to plan a charity ride with friends at the Bristol office of construction firm ISG before his death from cancer in June.   

During one of the periods of  remission in the nine years he had cancer he had cycled from Land’s End to John O’Groats for the Macmillan Cancer charity.   

Mr  Best’s wife, Katherine, of  Buckshaft, joined some of his friends from ISG to present a  cheque  to the chairman of Great Oaks,  Ceri  Evans, and some of the complementary therapists at the  Coleford  hospice who helped care for him.   

Mrs  Best thanked the cyclists who had raised the “fantastic” sum and said it was her husband’s wish that it went to the hospice which depends on donations to carry on its important work.   

She said: “We both had complementary therapy here and, many years ago, I was a volunteer here so I’ve seen it from both sides.   

“Originally Jon was involved in  organising  it and helping out but then he became too ill.   

“The idea was that they would go between the offices (of ISG) and raise money for a local charity.   

“Then Jez (Bullman) asked Jon where he would like the money to go and he asked for the whole amount to go to Great Oaks which was lovely.   

“Jon had a battle with cancer for nine years but he was  given a  terminal diagnosis of 18 months and made 16. It was very difficult.   

“He fought right to the end and worked as long as he could.”   

Mr  Bullman  said the riders started at Chorley near Manchester and rode to Tamworth in Staffordshire, Huntingdon in  Cambridge­shire, London and finished in Bristol on September 9.   

He said: “I was very close to Jon and he spoke me about this place and what they do and how they’d helped him through the journey.   

“His idea was  that  it would be good to  raise money for one of the lesser-known charities.     

“When you come here and see what they do it is easy to see why Jon nominated Great Oaks.   

“For a group of middle-aged, exercise-phobic men we did all right.”