Tom Jarman
Tom's cycling around the world
Fundraising for Children's Heart Surgery Fund
Story
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
It was a sunny morning on 23rd April 2017 when I set off alone on my bicycle from Melbourne Australia, destined for my home on the other side of the world in Leeds, England. I pedalled across Australia before cycling through South East Asia, China, Central Asia and Europe and concluded my adventure by pedalling up my childhood street to meet my family on 16th December 2018 which fulfilled my main trip goal having covered 23324 miles (37318 km) through 28 countries, raising £1132 for the Children's Heart Surgery Fund (CHSF)
The charity is close to our family's heart after my niece, Violet, was born with a heart defect and went through open heart surgery at only 5 days old.
It is with massive thanks to the expertise of the surgeons and superb aftercare from nurses in ICU at Leeds General Infirmary, who are supported by CHSF, that Violets life was saved and she has been able to grow into the vibrant and wonderful young girl that she is today. As a family, we will be forever grateful for the incredible gift that has been given to us and the opportunity for me to help raise money for this charity is one that I want to make the most of.
Along my journey I was heavily inspired by people I met, scenery I saw and experiences I couldn't have had any other way than on the back of my bike. As well as this, I continued to be inspired by the strength of the children affected by CHD and their families as well as the will of the healthcare professionals to help to save lives and provide superb life long care.
This inspiration lead me to dream about cycling more, seeing more and raising more funds for CHSF and the closer I got to achieving my goal, the closer I got to finalising plans that would make this new dream a reality.
In February 2019 I flew to Ushuaia at the very Southern tip of South America having spent Christmas at home with my family. I'm currently heading North with the goal of reaching Alaska at the very Northern point of North America and the dream of raising more money for the incredible cause that is CHSF.
If you would like to follow my trip, I update my progress on Google maps showing the places I have camped and this forms the route map of my journey. You can follow this using the following link and pressing the "View Map" link:-
https://www.google.com/maps/placelists/list/XX-hQ61AqaR9DpwGvBxsCva2pGZhkQ?hl=en
I also update my progress on Instagram with photos and accompanying stories from this journey. I can be found at @tommyonhistravels
Please remember that no donation is too small and that all proceeds are going to an incredible cause and helping to save lives.
Thank you