Meet Yorkie: The friendly face behind the final rider at Tour de Moor

At the tail end of our Tour de Moor you will find some of our volunteers with a very important job…sweeping the route.

Paul Cunningham or ‘Yorkie’ as he is known among friends is one of the friendly faces behind the final rider at our annual cycling event across Dartmoor. His job is to ensure that no riders are left behind, keeping the event running smoothly and in the right direction!

Originally from Halifax in West Yorkshire, he came to Plymouth in 1977 when he joined the Navy and stayed here ever since. The 71-year-old is now happily retired and enjoys volunteering his time and skills each year for St Luke’s.

He said: “I can’t really remember how long I’ve been ‘sweeping’ on Tour De Moor, pretty much from the outset. I do it with my friends Steve and Lee who have been good riding friends for a number of years and Lee is also a fully trained bike mechanic so he’s a good person to be riding alongside – as well as them both being superb friends.”

Yorkie is well accustomed to the Dartmoor route used for Tour de Moor, having taken part as a registered rider for a number of years and even helping us with route planning in the past.

“Tour de Moor appeals to me along with other St Luke’s events because it is just a small way of giving something back to all the team at St Luke’s. Also it is on cycleways that I use on a regular basis.”

This year will be the first year that Yorkie has even encouraged his wife to sign up for the event.

He said: “This is my wife’s first year of taking part, she is a keen cyclist and to improve her distances when riding with me she changed to an e-bike. This will be a big challenge for her and many others because the high moor around Eylesbarrow and South Hessary Tor can be quite unforgiving places in inclement weather, so it’s ideal to have the ride in September this year which can sometimes provide better weather than October.”

One of the reasons Yorkie volunteers for and supports St Luke’s is his own personal health battle.

“You never know if you may require St Luke’s services at some time for either yourself or family. I have a defective gene which is part of the Lynch Syndrome group of DNA Defects, to date I have had about 30 instances of cancer some quite severe some not so; from Bowel and Prostate through to multiple skin cancers. So I feel very justified in giving my time to St Luke’s. Plus it’s also a damn good day out.”