Hello everyone,

We are pleased to let you know that we completed the 500 mile cycle ride, half-way from Land's End to John O'Groats with 3 days to spare, so we pedalled on for another 90 miles until we reached the Scottish border at the Kershope Bridge north of Brampton.  It was a wonderful, if rather hilly, ride along minor country lanes, a route recommended by the Cyclists' Touring Club, and we were delighted by the beautiful English countryside and the warmth and hospitality of friends, pubs, hotels and B&B's along the way.  Altogether a great experience.

The total amount of money that you have donated comes to the staggering sum of £6,704, and the Gift Aid supplement brings this up to £7,419!  This is more than double our original target and is almost enough to supply 10 high quality dairy cows to poor farmers in Africa.  Thank you all very much indeed.

Brian and Pippa 

22 June 2011

Earlier entries:

We have now passed the target of six cows, but please keep giving.  There is no limit to the number of cows needed in Africa, and with the GiftAid and money promised per mile we may be able to send 8 or 9 cows!  This is wonderful: so thank you very much.

>Stop, Stop Press!  We have been totally overwhelmed by the amount of support and everyone's generosity, and are now in a position to raise the target to six cows (£4,500)!  This is because several friends have sponsored us by the mile, and provided we get out of Cornwall we will now pass the five cow target. Thank you all so much, but please continue to contribute and let's try to meet this new and amazing target.

Stop Press.  Owing to the wonderful generosity of our friends we have decided to increase our target from four cows to five, which gives a new financial target of £3,750.

Pippa and I have decided to attempt our first ever sponsored challenge.  It has been prompted by visiting Rwanda twice and seeing the huge impact that Send a Cow is having when they train a poor African family in how to farm well and look after animals, and then give them a cow plus veterinary support.  The cow provides milk for all the family, manure to make the crops grow, and also gives income through sale of milk and surplus calves.  Our research showed that one cow provides enough income to lift the family out of poverty and pay for up to four children to go to secondary school. 

Our challenge is to cycle for a fortnight, and see how far we can get from Land's End towards John O'Groats.  Having only just resumed cycling after almost 30 years we will be delighted if we get half way - somewhere in North Yorkshire.  We will be travelling without support, so leave Land's End on 23rd May on bicycles with loaded panniers and do battle with the hills of Cornwall and Devon.

 

It costs Send a Cow £750 to provide a good quality dairy cow, and our aim is to raise enough money to provide a cow for 4 families - a total of £3,000. 

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

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 and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please support us if you can.  We have seen the evidence that your contribution will make a real difference.