Twelve exhausted men collapsed in a heap to give their weary legs a rest and celebrate the end of a gruelling cycle ride – in memory of baby Alice Stevens.

The efforts of the team, led by dad Rob Stevens, have already raised more than £7,000 for the Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust (CCS)-run Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) at Hinchingbrooke Hospital and East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (Each). Ride for Alice is expected to have raised thousands of pounds more once individual and company sponsorships are in.

Rob said: “It was a token of our appreciation for the support that we received from the brilliant staff at SCBU and Each.”

Mum Zoe Robinson said: “What was really nice was that there were staff there from both charities when the riders arrived at Milton and Hinchingbrooke.”

The money will be split between Dreamdrops, the Huntingdonshire children’s charity that supports SCBU and EACH.

Alice was born with Edwards Syndrome or Trisomy 18, a condition which results in low birth weight and serious medical conditions, and a  5 per cent survival rate for more than 12 months, at Hinchingbrooke Hospital. She was immediately transferred to SCBU where spent seven weeks and two days before losing her fight for life.

The 120-mile ride on Saturday, 11 July started at 6.30am at Each Quidenham. After stopping at Each Ipswich and Milton, they reached Hinchingbrooke Hospital at 5.30pm where they were met by their family and friends, nurses from SCBU, CCS chief executive Matthew Winn and chair of Dreamdrops Anne-Marie Hamilton.

Mr Winn said: “The Ride-for-Alice team undertook a phenomenal bike ride to raise money for our neo-natal unit and EACH.

“Our clinical team had the privilege to care for Alice during her short life and we are very indebted to the fundraising efforts of  Rob and Zoe and their friends and family. We will be putting the money raised to really good use in the baby unit so a new set of families can benefit from the improved environment.”

Rob said: “The nurses at SCBU could not have done anything more when Alice was in the unit. Some of the staff came to meet us at the finishing line even though they were not working that day, It’s that kind of ‘above and beyond the call of duty’ care that we wanted to thank them for by raising money for the unit.

“We wanted to do something so other babies and parents can benefit from some of the nice things that the extra money can buy, like the sensory lights that were on Alice’s cot. We really liked it.”

To donate, visit rideforalice.co.uk