TT STAR Guy Martin wants as many people as possible to enjoy a cup of tea and support research into spinal injuries.
Known as Guy Martin’s Big Brew, the event has been running annually across the British Isles since 2011 when everyone from bike dealerships to cafes were encouraged to throw a tea party to support the cause.
So far, hundreds of kettles have been boiled and thousands of mugs of tea raised in support of the cause, generating thousands of pounds in the process.
The idea is a simple one - namely that people get on their bikes and visit a participating venue - bike dealer or cafe, enjoy a cup of tea and make a donation. Some of the venues have even held quizzes and raffles.
Whoever raises the most money will get to meet Guy and there is also to be a prize draw to meet the man himself.
Running alongside the event will be a sideburn growing competition where hirsute hopefuls can upload an image of their facial hair on to the web to be judged by Guy. The winner gets a free track day. For details of how to enter log on to www.spinalnews.org/bigbrew.
This year’s event is to be held over the May bank holiday weekend on May 3 and 4th and Fulton’s garage at Snugborough is one of the participating venues.
Becky Fulton who is organising the event said: ‘I’m not expecting Guy himself to show up for it but it’s an excellent cause so we would like as many people as possible to come along and support it.’
The event will be at Fulton’s garage at Snugborough from 9am to 5.30pm on Friday May 3 and on Saturday May 4 from 11am to 3pm.
There will be an awning at the garage where home made cakes tea and other refreshments will be served and there is also to be a TT-themed quiz to baffle and entertain visitors. All donations to spinal research will be gratefully accepted.
The idea came about after Guy crashed at Ballagarey in the 2010 TT. Photographs of the ensuing fireball were featured on the Closer to the Edge TT documentary. After the accident he said: ‘I was lucky I wasn’t paralysed when I broke the vertebrae in my back but not every rider is as fortunate.’