Our friend and colleague Mark Lewis had a dream. A dream that involved taking a bunch of construction workers of various disciplines, getting them road ready and cycling from London to Paris for charity. All was going well, the training was building up and everything was booked for the trip.

8 weeks prior to the challenge Mark took a group of novice cyclists out for a training run of 20 miles, getting us fit, teaching us the rules of the road and the etiquette of cycling in a group. About 3 miles from the end of this cycle, down a steep hill, Mark came off his bike, broke his back, sustained serious head injuries and is currently in a coma.

He may never wake up; and if he does wake up, he will never walk again.

In his honour we are still completing this challenge and aim to raise as much money for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance who helped him on that day with the doctors stabilising him at the scene and rushing him to the specialist hospital trauma unit much quicker than he would have got there by road. For without them, the outlook could have been even worse.

There are around 40 people taking on this gruelling challenge, most are sticking with the original intended charitable benefactor, Great Ormond Street Hospital, as was Mark's wish, but Derek and Dave have decided to raise money to the charity that is one reason he is still alive today. If you would like to donate to GOSH as a mark of respect then please follow the link  https://www.justgiving.com/teams/EiffelOver.

Please give as generously as your pocket allows. the Air Ambulance receives no government funding and have to raise all their own funding, they need over £3 million a year to keep operating.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.