OVER 600 bikers rode their motorcycles through the streets of BCP to raise money and awareness for men’s health, this morning (Sunday May 22).

650 riders from the BCP area took part in the national Distinguished Gentleman's Ride to raise money and awareness for men’s mental health and prostate cancer.

The bikers assembled at Poole Quay at 8.30am, ready to depart at 9.40am.

The sun was shining and crowds gathered to watch the “distinguished gentlefolk” set off.

The bikers travelled via Sandbanks to Bournemouth Pier Approach, before stopping for a break and departing via Christchurch and Avon Causeway, finishing at Bournemouth School on Eastway at around 12.15pm. 

The ride across BCP has so far raised £47,000 for charity. 

Bournemouth and Poole Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride Leader, Ian Mclennan said: “Awesome just about sums it up, we are the biggest we’ve ever been, we’ve got 650 riders on the road, which is 130 more than London and we are currently heading towards our biggest ever total by a huge margin. We’ve raised about 47,000 so far and were going to hit 60,000 which is nearly twice what we’ve done before. 

“The weather is awesome, BCP have been awesome and many people are coming up to me and saying this is the best ride that they've ever done in their life. 

Bournemouth Echo:

“The number of people down on the pier to see us and the number of people at the school who have cheered us in, the lawns in front of the school are absolutely heaving with people queuing for food and drink and talking and chatting about what the ride is about, men’s health. 

“These guys are awesome for contributing, it's them who have made the ride and all the money raised will be spent by the Movember Foundation on prostate cancer and men’s mental health. The ride itself is paid for by local sponsors, far too numerous to mention but it is great that they’re efforts are saving men’s lives. 

“It's about getting men to talk about their health, they're great at talking about their bikes, they're great at dressing up and showing off but they will not open their mouths about their health and particularly for mental health it's important but for prostate cancer early diagnosis is absolutely key, it's very treatable if caught early, so we need men to talk about it.”