GCHQ’s secret Centenary bike ride
The charity event, which took place on Sunday 19th May, was part of the organisation’s centenary celebrations and needed to be kept secret to protect the identities of staff taking part.
The group of riders – who work across the agency’s missions including counter-terrorism, serious and organised crime, and cyber security – raced through numerous landmark Cotswolds towns and villages including Thornborough, Mixbury, Chipping Norton and Stow-on-the-Wold.
After taking part in the event, GCHQ Director Jeremy Fleming said:
“Our secret cycle was a great way to help charities we all feel passionately about. I am proud that GCHQ has such a vibrant volunteering and charity support ethos. Together we have raised more than £600,000 for great causes over the past two years.
“It was also another chance to celebrate our centenary and mark a history full of amazing intelligence, world-leading innovation, and most of all ingenious minds.”
The cyclists spent just over six hours in the saddle, setting off from Bletchley Park at 07:45am before being greeted at the finish line by their families at just after 2pm.
Fifty percent of the proceeds raised will be donated to Cancer Research UK, a charity particularly close to the hearts of five of the riders who are members of GCHQ’s Cancer Support Network. Altogether, the challenge is expected to raise around £30,000, with the rest of the donations being shared between GCHQ’s Centenary charities, Heads Together, the Royal British Legion and Code Club.
Mark, lead organiser, one of the participants and member of GCHQ’s Cancer Support Network, said:
“I have been overwhelmed with the encouragement and support I have received from our staff across the globe.
“As a recent cancer survivor this event presented a wonderful opportunity for GCHQ’s recently formed volunteer support network to give back to cancer research charities. It was great to be part of an awesome event where our organisation’s camaraderie and team ethos is displayed to the full in celebration of our centenary.”
Iain Standen, CEO Bletchley Park, said:
“We were delighted to support GCHQ for the cycle event. This is a great opportunity to celebrate GCHQ’s 100-year history of which Bletchley Park plays an important part. Bletchley Park was a place where the extraordinary combination of collaborative teamwork, determination and brilliance came together to do great things – a spirit that we see today in people working for GCHQ.”
The cycle ride is just one part of GCHQ’s centenary celebrations. Earlier this year, Her Majesty The Queen unveiled the GCHQ Centenary plaque at Watergate House, GCHQ’s first home between 1919 and 1921. Following the great success of the GCHQ Puzzle Book, the GCHQ Puzzle Book II was released in October 2018 with profits going to one of the centenary charities Heads Together.
And in July this year a free exhibition ‘Top Secret: From Ciphers to Cyber Security’, at the London Science Museum, will give visitors the chance to explore the history of communications intelligence with previously unseen artefacts.
GCHQ's Centenary Year
1 November 2018 marked the start of our centenary year. The past century has seen GCHQ at the heart of the nation's security, and we’re committed to help keep the UK safe for the next 100 years. Our work has never been more relevant; pioneering a new kind of security in an ever more complex world.
From our inception, we have valued different perspectives and diversity of skills, and our history is full of ordinary people solving extraordinary problems. The changing threats we face will demand ever more of the ingenuity for which we are renowned. We believe that with the right mix of minds, anything is possible.
The origins of GCHQ date back to 1919 when it was formed under the original name of the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS). It was the result of the merger of Room 40 in the Admiralty, responsible for naval intelligence, and MI1(b) in the War Office, responsible for military intelligence, during the First World War. GC&CS became the single organisation responsible for signals intelligence. From its earliest days, producing intelligence from others' communications whilst protecting the UK's own has been at the core of the mission.
In 1939, GC&CS was given the cover name GCHQ to better disguise its secret work. Its role at Bletchley Park in the Second World War is now well known and the organisation moved its headquarters to Cheltenham in 1950. Today, GCHQ has sites across the country including Bude, Scarborough, and London, and will be opening a new facility in Manchester in 2019.
Our modern day mission is much more diverse than it was when we were formed. Supporting the military is still very much part of our role but we also now tackle the most serious cyber, terrorist, criminal, and state threats. We strive to protect our way of life. In an increasingly digital world, the need to protect the UK's communications is a part of GCHQ's role that continues to be equally as relevant. The formation of the National Cyber Security Centre, a part of GCHQ, is helping to make the UK the safest place to live and do business online. We are empowering people to play their part in our national security, showing them how to better protect themselves and each other.
Throughout our centenary year we will be marking this significant milestone in a variety of ways. Some plans are still secret for now but there is lots we can already tell you about. We paid homage to our first home at Watergate House with a memorial plaque, unveiled by Her Majesty the Queen. We launched the GCHQ Puzzle Book II. As well as developing your problem solving skills you can read a selection of short stories that will give you an insight into our evolution and the challenges we face as we look towards our second century. All of our profits from the book are going to Heads Together, the mental health initiative run by the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. If the short stories in our puzzle book get you interested, then look out for our first full authorised history which is due for publication in Autumn 2019. We are also delighted that the London Science Museum will be hosting an exhibition opening July 2019 that will explore our story. Exciting times ahead...
