Brothers in beach race ton honour grandad (From Wiltshire Times)

Brothers in beach race ton honour grandad

3:00pm Friday 7th October 2011 in Wiltshire

Two brothers are proudly honouring the memory of their grandfather by taking part in the Weston Beach Race to raise money for Dementia UK.

Matthew and William Clarke will be taking part in the Weston-super-Mare event over this weekend to commemorate Charles Clarke, who died earlier this year.

The Weston Beach Race is an open international event which any moto-cross rider can enter. It regularly attracts some of the sport’s world stars.

Matthew, 24, is an amateur motocross rider and has taken part in the Weston Beach Race for the past two years.

He said: “The race has 1,000 people in it and you’re near some of the stars of motocross so it is rather exciting, I was actually going to take a break from it this year but I felt it was a nice way to honour my grandad by raising some money.

“It’s very much a family affair, as this is my bro-ther’s first time competing and we’ve had a lot of support from our parents too.”

Matthew and his brother William, 17, have been training at the Trowbridge Academy of Boxing twice a week to get in shape for the Weston Beach Race.

Matthew said: “I aim to finish in the top quarter, which I think I can do, where as William will be happy to finish, but the main thing is raising funds for Dementia UK, as they were so supportive to my grandad towards the end of his life.

“He suffered with it but they worked hard helping him and being there for our family.”

Matthew said he hopes to raise around £500 for the charity to honour his grandfather, who lived in Bradford on Avon, throu-gh his Just Giving page.

The brothers held a fundraising event in Westdale Park, on Holt Road, Bradford on Avon, on September 24, when they posed for pictures with their bikes.

Matthew’s partner Kir-stin Randall has helped organise the fundraising and she has received support from local shops offering raffle prizes.

She said: “It has been very stressful but I’d like to thank everyone who has donated raffle prizes, one of the big prizes is a pair of tickets for the Weston Beach Race.”

For more information or to make a donation to Dementia UK in memory of Charles Clarke, visit www.justgiving.com/Matt-Clarke3.