Riders In The Sky was formed after Lee Baker was killed on 8th November 2010. He was a good friend, brother son and father. Lee was also a dedicated charity supporter doing many different ventures to raise money for charity from sky dives to naked calendars. After his death we wanted to organise an event in memory of him and do something he would of loved.
One of lees great loves was motorcycles and this was how many of the group had met him So we decided we wanted to do a motorcycle ride out around some of his favourite roads. But Lee had such a varied group of friends from all walks of life so turning the afternoon into a family fun day gave the opportunity to all who knew him to get together and enjoy the day. When deciding on a charity to support, we chose the Dorset and Somerset air ambulance largely because we think they play a very important part in the rural area we ride and live by saving vital time in the most serious of cases.
The amount of local support this event has received has been unbelievable and in our debut year we raised over £9000 from R.I.T.S day and a 95ft river jump performed by one of the R.I.T.S team. The name Riders in the sky was thought of by lees dad and was perfect for what the day was about. As motorcyclists we all know the dangers of riding on the roads unfortunately many of us have lost someone we are close to. R.I.T.S day is to remember all we have lost and do something we all enjoy, Riding.
Hopefully each year the event will get bigger and better allowing us to raise more and more money for the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance. R.I.T.S day were the largest independent charity donors to the air ambulance in their debut year 2011 let’s hope we can manage this for years to come with everyone’s kind support.
If anyone would like to support us in any of our event please don’t hesitate to get in touch.