The Challenge:

I am cycling 5000 miles around the coast of Britain. A journey the equivalent of London to Calcutta, climbing 232,000 feet which is the equivalent of eight times the height of Everest!

The journey could take up to 5 months but I had to find a way for me to get noticed all the way round. Over lockdown my Dad and I have built a bicycle camper out of wood, some old bike wheels and sheets of corex. I will attempt to tow it along with me the entire way sleeping in it as I go.

It's going to make the hills 10 times harder and the challenge a lot tougher but if you saw a bloke towing a bright yellow tube behind him for charity could you look the other way?

Why?

After completing an earlier challenge in September taking my mountain bike 600 miles across the country with E.T. as my sidekick I was able to give funds to this incredible cause. I set off after being captivated by a video of Chris Brannigan arriving in Edinburgh after walking 700 miles barefoot to change the life of his daughter Hasti.

But after that everything changed.

Coming to the end of my challenge I had witnessed overwhelming kindness from people all across Britain. Although my journey had come to an end, for Hengameh and Chris (Hasti's Mum & Dad) the fight was nowhere near over. I had watched from the side-lines, doing all in my power to help but only after did I truly get to know the family.

I spent more and more time with them, completing a barefoot run with Hengameh, eating Chinese with the whole family and have had countless conversations together over the past few months. I have been involved in every aspect of fundraising since coming back. I've helped with their social media, organised fundraisers and talked to many families affected by rare disease. 

Then we returned to lockdown and I watched them struggling to run a charity alongside their day jobs. Doing everything can to help their daughter every single day and somehow still smiling and inspiring thousands of people. Whether that be a young boy Deckie walking barefoot realising his life could of been so different, Kirsty making poems to keep everyone smiling and countless others attempting to clock 222,000 miles in a virtual challenge to he moon.

The truth is time is running out to create a treatment and with everything that has been going on fundraising is at an all time low. I have waited for months unable to move in lockdown praying for an end so I could help change the lives of children with rare diseases which in future could affect my own children. I have been training and planning for months hoping to leave in February.

Stay at home has now been lifted and I cannot delay otherwise it may be too late to raise the funds we most desperately need. It means I will spend the first month or more sleeping solely in a homemade camper that I will tow along behind me. I will rely on the kindness of strangers unable to shower and sleeping where I can. 

In life you always have choices and I must help this family that I've grown so close to. Please if you've read this far. Donate. I promise you that every penny will be used to help children like Hasti. 

The Facts:

* 1 in 3 of all children with a rare disease never live to celebrate their fifth birthday

* 95% of all rare diseases have NO treatment ... none!

* 3.5 million people in the UK will be affected by a rare disease in their lifetime - 50% of them will be children.

* A person with a rare disease can expect to wait four years just to get a diagnosis (if they get one at all) and to be before that they can expect to be misdiagnosed three times. 

How Can You Help?

• A donation of any amount will make a huge difference! For many of us we were lucky enough to never experience issues as a child but for some children they may never be able to lead a normal life without our help! 

• Raise awareness. For all you kind and well connected people out there please spread the word! Tell your friends, spam your social accounts and put photos of the camper everywhere, I promise it's for a good cause! 

• Help out a friend. If you live along the coast of England and would like to join me for a day or even a few hours of cycling I would love the support! If you have a place to sleep or have a hot shower this too would mean the world to me.

Thankyou for your support and taking the time to read this! I hope together we can make a difference for children in the UK.

Follow The Journey:

Instagram: @expeditionjosh

Facebook: @expeditionjosh

CDLS is a rare genetic condition that presents children with a wide range of difficult physical and behavioural challenges. Hope for Hasti is funding cutting-edge research to develop a gene therapy for this rare condition which will dramatically improve their quality of life. Working closely with some of the brightest minds in genetics, we can change the lives of the children affected by this illness. To achieve our goal, we need your help.