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Dozens of students and staff at Derwen College turned up in the bright sunshine yesterday to support a fellow student who will be attempting a charity bike ride around Lake Vyrnwy this summer.
Mack’s Challenge will see student Mackenzie Beeson cycle around the beautiful Mid Wales lake in July to raise funds for the college.

Yesterday’s pre-challenge day was designed to tell staff, students and visitors to Derwen College all about the event, and to gather support. Over 20 students took turns on an exercise bike outside the college’s Garden Centre to lend their support to Mack. Visitors to the college were told about the challenge and pledged their support. The students managed to clock up 65 miles between them on the bike, which represents the distance from Derwen College to Lake Vyrnwy, around the Lake and back again to college. Visitors to the college raised a brilliant £136.47 on the day, taking the running total so far up to £266,
Mack used the opportunity to show supporters his specially adapted bike which he will use for the challenge, and to put in some essential training.
For more information about Mack’s Challenge and to pledge your support please go to:
www.virginmoneygiving.com/fund/mackschallenge
Or contact Anna Evans, Fundraiser at Derwen College on 01691 661234 ext.395

Derwen College staff and students will be cycling the distance to Lake Vyrnwy and back in training for ‘Mack’s Challenge’ -­ a student’s sponsored cycle ride around the picturesque Mid Wales lake.

On Tuesday, 14^th May, a team from the specialist college, in Gobowen, near Oswestry, will be taking turns to clock up 65 miles – the mileage from Derwen College to Lake Vyrnwy, around the lake and back – on a static bike. The event at the College’s Garden Centre hopes to raise funds and awareness ahead of student Mackenzie Beeson’s main sponsored cycle ride this summer.

For Mack’s Challenge, Mackenzie and supporting staff and students will be cycling the entire distance around Lake Vyrnwy on his adapted bike on Sunday, 7^th July. The 12-mile ride will coincide with the start of the Tour de France and hopes to attract cycling fans to come along and support on the day.

Mackenzie will be raising funds for Derwen College and making a donation to inclusive cycling charity Wheels For All who are supporting the project.

Mackenzie, from Aberdyfi in Gwynedd, has speech and language difficulties and learning difficulties, but has never allowed his disabilities to hinder his ambitions. He has a love of cycling on his specially adapted bike, and a determination to prove that anything is possible.

Mackenzie’s father Shane Beeson says that Mack has never let anything hold him back.

He said: “His first ride charity bike when he was school was a 39-mile cycle from Newtown to Aberdyfi. In summer 2017 he cycled a gruelling 99 miles over five days. As a family, we have always wanted to highlight Mack’s abilities rather than his disabilities, and he has always challenged himself in all his endeavours.

“We are pleased to be able to take part in this challenge and to raise money for Derwen College.”

To support Mack’s Challenge come along on Tuesday or donate on his fundraising page HERE.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fund/mackschallenge

Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards students at Derwen College received a generous financial boost from members of Oswestry’s three Masonic Lodges.

St Oswald Lodge, Fitz Alan Lodge and Cae Glas Lodge worked together to raise £2,000 to support students at the specialist college in Gobowen.  The money will help to fund students at the college for young people with learning difficulties and disabilities, providing equipment, transport and support for their Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards (DofE) expeditions.

Cae Glas Lodge made a donation of £1,000, and St. Oswald Lodge and Fitz Alan Lodge made a donation of £500 each to the college. The money will be used to fund the students to go on expeditions and residential activities which are part of the award challenge. Expeditions include students navigating their way through the Snowdonia Mountains and taking part in residential activities at Glan-llyn Outdoor Centre on the shores of Lake Bala.

Derwen College has a very successful Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards programme. Last year, 60 learners from the college completed their awards at Bronze, Silver or Gold. This year, the college is well on the way to equally great achievements.

Pete Adams, Secretary of Cae Glas Lodge, said that the three lodges felt it was important to work together to support Derwen College students.

He said: “It’s great that the Lodges can work together to support such an important initiative in the community. Talking to students, it is clear that they gain so much from their Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards experience. We love to hear their stories of challenges and adventure.”

Steve Evans, Sports Coordinator at Derwen College said: “We are very proud of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards programme we run at Derwen College. The level of commitment needed from the students, their parents and college staff is immense; without the continued generous financial support of groups such as the Masonic Lodges, paying for the equipment, away days and transport would be incredibly difficult.”

Bakers from local charities whipped up birthday celebration cakes in a hotly contested Bake-Off style competition held at Derwen College.

Charities Empathy for Special Children and West Mercia Search and Rescue joined bakers from Oswestry Sainsbury’s at Derwen College for the first all-male baking competition on 29^th April.

Two bakers from each charity and two from Sainsbury’s took part in the blind baking technical challenge to bake a Mary Berry spiced orange birthday cake to mark Sainsbury’s 150 years in business. Bakers were given a recipe and ingredients – supplied by Sainsbury’s – to follow. They were then free to use their imagination to decorate and create a show-stopping anniversary cake.

Competitors Michael Pearce and Marcel Lecocq from West Mercia Search and Rescue, Andy Hall and Logan Blackburn-Issitt from Empathy for Special Children, and Nigel James and Rob Whitchurch from Sainsbury’s all cooked up fabulously imaginative and delicious cakes in the close-run contest.

The winning entry – by West Mercia Search and Rescue’s Michael Pearce – was a stunning cake decorated with an edible Sainbury’s Live Well for Less filled with cake-filled goodies groceries.

Judges Cllr Paul Milner, Derwen College’s Peter Evans and Sainsbury’s Katie Greenwood praised Michael’s flavour combinations and attention to detail.

The Bake Off was launched in 2017 to mark the handover of Sainsbury’s Local Charity of the Year from Derwen College to Hope House. The tradition has continued and this year sees the baton passed from Empathy for Special Children to new Local Charity of the Year West Mercia Search and Rescue.

Sainsbury’s Tammy Williams said: “The competitors followed a Mary Berry Spicy Orange Cake recipe. This is the first year that Sainsbury’s have entered their own contestants and also the first time we’ve had an all-male competition. Some of our competitors had never baked a cake before, so the results were phenomenal. Everybody who took part should be very proud of themselves.”

For pictures from the event visit our Facebook page.