Our son Fraser will be four years old this summer. He is a beautiful, lively little boy and has brought much joy to our family. However,we started to notice that Fraser wasn’t developing as quickly as other children his age when he was about 18 months old. He underwent a series of assessments which resulted in him receiving an autism diagnosis in October last year.

In March 2017 Fraser was referred for speech and language therapy but after six months there was very little improvement so we explored what additional support we could provide to help him. We kept reading online how early intervention is so important for children with any type of development delay and, in particular, the benefits of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) Therapy.

About 18 months ago we decided to set up a home-based ABA Programme and since then Fraser has made fantastic progress. As a result of this therapy, he has gone from only babbling to now being able to say over 200 words, follow simple instructions and make some requests. More recently he has started to read and count which is very encouraging. But, most importantly, he is a happier little boy as he is learning how to engage with the world around him.

We desperately want to continue this therapy but it isn’t cheap. So I have decided to take on a huge challenge in the hope that I can raise some money to allow us to continue with this support for Fraser for as long as we can.

On 8^th June 2019, I will attempt to cycle coast to coast in a single day – starting in Morecambe on the Lancashire coast and finishing in Scarborough on the Yorkshire coast. I will have to cycle a grand total of 190 miles or 305 kilometres. Now I do a reasonable amount of cycling but never have I attempted this distance in a single ride before.

I have included a link of my proposed route and you will see it takes in both the Yorkshire Dales and North Yorkshire Moors. I will be praying for a westerly wind to help push me along but expect this ride to take approximately 12 – 14 hours not including stops. I have picked June in order to maximise the daylight available but it is possible that some cycling in the dark will be required. I will be doing this on my own and unsupported so it’s fair to say that it is not going to be easy!

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29120340

If you can spare some money to sponsor me it would be greatly appreciated. Every little bit helps and I promise that every single penny will be spent on helping our gorgeous little boy. Thank you so much for taking time to read my story.

7.5% of all donations to Tree of Hope in relation to this appeal will be allocated to the general charitable purposes of Tree of Hope to cover their core operating costs.

If we raise insufficient funds, or surplus funds, then the funds will be used, if appropriate, to fund support for our child's needs in accordance with Tree of Hope's charitable objects. If in this circumstances we are unable to use all or part of the funds for the benefit of our child in accordance with Tree of Hope's charitable objects, then any funds that cannot be used will be transferred to be used for the general charitable purposes of Tree of Hope.