I'm no Bradley Wiggins.  Most of my cycling experience has normally involved cycling to the pub (of course not back).  The idea of cycling from London to Africa is something that I find incredibly scary - from wearing lycra in public to working out that I am going to have to pedal a mind boggling 1300 miles in wind and rain across Europe, over the Pyrenees, every day for 2 and a half weeks.

Andy who runs Regenerate was the first kid I met at secondary school on the school bus back in 1987.  He has always been someone who has had big dreams and usually ends up having a great time making them happen.  He has a big heart to help people - a contagious positivity, enthusiasm and passion for what he does - and I want to use this opportunity to get behind what he is doing.  

I've watched him develop Regenerate from a random idea he had when we shared a house as a student on the Alton Estate in Roehampton in the 90s to something that has made a huge difference in the community to children, families and older people.  

While he first moved to the estate back in 96, Andy began to see and hear about some of the negative things that went on in the community where he lived.  He heard about older people that had not been out of their homes for over 20 years and were living in isolation and fear. He saw kids riding stolen mopeds around the estate, cars and houses getting burnt out, drugs available all over the place and people getting robbed on the street.

In January 2000, he formed Regenerate, organising a lunch club for the older people in the area. He rented a church hall and employed a cook and within a few weeks he had 100 regular members. Older people that had been isolated before hand.

Regenerate then started developing other projects for young people and children, such as, football clubs, dance and homework clubs, minibus trips out of London, a Juice Bar drop-in youth centre, a music studio, mentoring schemes and trips for young people to volunteer in developing countries.

In 2006 Regenerate RISE was established as a separate charity to focus on developing the work with the elderly.

Now this charity does some outstanding work with underprivileged people around the world, and back in October 2016, I travelled on a Regenerate trip to Romania and spent a few days seeing first hand some of the brilliant projects they have put in place supporting people that really do have next to nothing.  It was a humbling experience that I will never forget.  This is just a small part of the work Regenerate do.  They are a charity that definitely punch above their weight.

When I was asked to do this trip, something caught my imagination, and while I am not someone that would usually choose to get involved in some physical endurance challenge, this is something I couldn't turn down.  

This isn't some huge professional team tour. Just a select bunch of Regenerate volunteers and supporters who want to have a life changing adventure together, overcome massive hurdles, grow in our self-belief, broaden horizons, and hopefully raise lots of money to support young people here in London as together we seek to make a difference in the world.  

The fundraising target is BIG as is our challenge.  Our target is to subsidise 100 young people from our London estates to get life changing opportunities where they are empowered to make an impact on those less fortunate than themselves. 

Please get behind Regenerate and give generously to this amazing charity to help them make a difference.