Thank you for visiting my JustGiving page.

I've got mixed feelings today having just got a last minute place on the London to Brighton Bide Ride. I'd been on the reserve list because the event was already fully booked when I had tried to enter. With just two weeks notice, I've not trained so it would have been easier to decline the offer of a place, to sit back and, maybe, to enter next year.  But why did I want to cycle 54 miles with 27,000 other daft people in the first place?

Because in April last year Rob Folkes, a friend and former colleague, had his world and life cruelly turned upside down. Rob had a spinal cord injury resulting in paralysis from the neck down. He had been out on a cycle ride in preparation for last year's London to Brighton Challenge.

Rob spent many months in hospital, including about 6 months at Stoke Mandeville's National Spinal Injuries Centre. I visited Rob at Stoke Mandeville and have been inspired by his courage and determination when facing the far more arduous challenge of coming to terms with his injury and rebuilding his life with a disability.

I was also impressed by the world renowned National Spinal Injuries Centre. Every year in the UK over 1,000 people experience a spinal cord injury.  There are an estimated 40,000 spinal injured people in the UK alone.

I'm delighted to have gained a place on the London to Brighton Challenge and to be raising money for the Spinal Injuries Association ('SIA')  - a UK charity dedicated to supporting spinal injured people and their families.

With little time before the event on Sunday 20th June, I'm setting a fundraising target of £500 and I hope that you will consider supporting me to achieve this goal.

Now where IS that puncture repair kit....?

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