A SUPERMARKET worker from York will get the chance to check out South Africa after proving he really is a trolley good fellow.

Philip Wardman, who works at Sainsbury’s, in Foss Bank, has been awarded an “endurance” prize by the supermarket after cycling 210 miles in 21 hours in aid of charity.

The 35-year-old swapped aisles for miles last September when he pedalled from Edinburgh to York, raising £3,500 for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Philip, from Tockwith, was invited to Sainsbury’s national awards ceremony in London to pick up his prize, which includes a five-day trip to South Africa. “It was a real surprise to get this award,” he said. “When you do these things, you don’t expect to get recognition for them.

“I wanted to raise the money for Yorkshire Air Ambulance because they helped my girlfriend’s father when he had a stroke on the A64.

“If he hadn’t been taken to hospital so quickly for the treatment he needed, he might not have lived.”

Philip, who also won a champagne lunch in London, was accompanied on the cycle ride by his two brothers, James and Andrew.

Cycling 210 miles in 21 hours was always going to be a test of endurance – but nothing could have prepared them for the weather conditions that lay in store.

“It was like a monsoon,” he said. “There were lots of really bad floods in the Newcastle area and we were cycling for pretty much 18 hours in the rain. It wasn’t much fun, but we were thrilled to raise so much money for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.”

Philip, who is the store’s online manager, is now getting ready to pack his bags for South Africa, where he will have the chance to meet Sainsbury’s Fairtrade suppliers.

“I can’t wait,” he said. “It will be the trip of a lifetime – the icing on the cake.”