This Saturday, 11th Sept., my father and I will embark on the challenge of cycling from Lands End to John O'Groats,  Our target is to do a gruelling 110 miles a day in order to complete the 889 miles in 8 days so I  can start my university career at Newcastle on time and the old man can get back to work to pay for it.
We are doing it to raise money for the Stars appeal which is a charity set up to support and maintain the children's ward at Salisbury District Hospital.  Thousands of local children are treated at the hospital every year and the appeal aims to make their experience the best it can possibly be by focussing on 3 key areas:
1)  Funding additional facilities and equipment within the new Children's Unit, due to open in December 2010.
2)  Creating a family unit for the parents of premature and critically ill babies being treated in the Special Care Baby Unit.
3)  Providing a dedicated children's area in Accident and Emergency.
It is an excellent cause and obviously 100% of money raised will go to the charity.  If you would like to sponsor us please do so  below or send a cheque made out to "Stars Appeal"to East Melbury Farmhouse, East
Melbury, Nr Shaftesbury, Dorset, SP7 0DS.
The weather forecast is awful, our training programme never really materialised and I still haven't got the pedals on my new bike which has only just been delivered.  Hopefully determination (mostly father), the hope of finding some half decent pubs to stay in( mostly me), the prospect
of getting out of the lycra (hopefully both) and a phenomenally good cause (definitely both) will keep us going.
I hope you had a fantastic summer.
Much love
Ed and Alex