We invited Sheffield coffee-lovers to raise a cup to charity cyclist Richard Beeching and the Yorkshire Air Ambulance crews who saved his life.

Richard Beeching, a long-time friend of Cafeology, is in the middle of a marathon cycle ride to raise awareness and funds for the air ambulance. He was in Sheffield today to meet locals and our staff as we have sponsored him and pledged 25p to the charity for every medium and large coffee sold today.

Richard, 44, is undertaking he challenge after the YAA saved his life last year; on Saturday 11th October 2014 he took on the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge with a group of friends.

On the descent from the final peak he had a massive anaphylactic attack, brought on by a newly developed allergy to anti-inflammatory drugs.

Richard said: “The Yorkshire Air Ambulance was called, arrived swiftly, were nothing short of brilliant and got me out of a right pickle. Then I discovered they need £12,000 a day in charitable donations to operate.”

To help raise vital funds Richard is cycling from his home in Peckham, London, to the first peak he and his friends summited that fateful day, Pen-Y-Ghent, to highlight the life-saving work of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance to people from Yorkshire and beyond.

From front gate to summit, Richard aims to complete the challenge in just over three days.

The YAA relies solely on the generosity of the public to help save lives across the region. They need to raise £12,000 per day to keep this life saving service going.

To donate visit https://www.justgiving.com/beechyaa/. You can also follow Richard’s journey live using his map tracker: http://maps.opentracking.co.uk/beeching15.cfm