Hundreds of thousands of people from across the country came together on Saturday to celebrate the life of the TV star Dave Myers and raise thousands for our vital research.
Dave Myers, who was one half of TV cooking duo The Hairy Bikers, died from cancer in February aged 66.
More than 45,000 motorcyclists took part in ‘Dave Day’, travelling in convoy from London to Barrow-in-Furness – Dave’s hometown. The ride was organised by volunteers and led by fellow Hairy Biker Si King and Dave’s friend Jason ‘Woody’ Woodcock.
Countless fans also visited Barrow for a number of events in Dave’s honour, including a concert and a service of remembrance.
Dave’s widow, Liliana Myers, chose The Institute of Cancer Research, London, as one of the recipients of fundraising from the ride out. Alongside supporting our world-leading cancer research, the money raised will benefit the NSPCC’s Childline service.
Donate in memory of Dave Myers
Liliana thanked everyone who had helped organise and support the day. She said:
“The love that you’ve put into this is not going unnoticed, thank you very much. I want to thank all the people that have made the effort to come today. Some of them really struggled in different ways to make their way here but they did, they are with us tonight.”
She said some of the cancer stories shared with her have been “moving her heart” as she can relate to their struggle, adding: “The past couple of years have been horrendous.”
She encouraged the crowd to reach out to anyone they know living with or supporting someone with cancer as she praised her friends who have been by her side.
Professor Kristian Helin, Chief Executive of the ICR, was interviewed live by BBC Radio Cumbria on Dave Day. He said:
“We are immensely grateful to Liliana for making this pledge. We are very honoured that she chose to support our work and what we do for people with cancer. It’s really very important for us to get this type of funding from charities and events like this, [as it helps us] work on developing a new generation of smarter, kinder treatments for patients.
“One in two of us will face cancer in our lifetime, so it is important for everyone that we can extend lives with our discoveries.”
Hundreds of thousands are thought to have lined the route and stood on bridges over the motorway to see the Dave Day convoy of bikers as they headed north.
Catherine Graham, Joint Head of Fundraising Campaigns and Individual Giving at the ICR, said
"It was amazing to see such an outpouring of love for Dave on Dave Day. We want to say a huge thank you to Dave's wife, Liliana, for choosing The Institute of Cancer Research as one of the charities to benefit from the event. We are so grateful to Si King for sharing the special friendship he had with Dave with us on this journey and being warm and generous with his time throughout Dave Day. And we want to make a special mention for Woody, who has been a pleasure to work with, and contributed so much to organising a spectacular occasion with a fantastic group of fellow volunteers.
"We’re so grateful to everyone who has donated, bought tickets and merchandise, and those who are continuing to give, to support both charities."
Explore the #DaveDay hashtag on Twitter/X and Instagram to see the scale of the event.