What am I doing?

I write this with butterflies in my tummy, I can hardly believe what I am typing. 

I am joining a group to raise money for the Amazing Thames Hospice by cycling the height of the Matterhorn - 4,478 meters of climbing, in 3.5 days (September 22) in the French Alps! I am joining my great friends Jason and Streisan Bevan and their team. We’ll be riding iconic Tour De France climbs accompanied by professional cycling racers and pro vehicle support - no pressure then!

Why? 

We are riding to raise funds for the hospice by Bray lake near Windsor. Set to be Europe's best hospice with 28 inpatient private ensuite rooms, extensive day therapy and outpatient facilities, large hospice at home care team and education centre for other care organisations. Quality of care is genuinely exceptional and not surprisingly, demand is huge. In addition to the cost of the hospice, £7M a year is required to run it and much of this comes from private support. If you'd like to join the trip, please go to www.bigmountainchallenge.com. Help us climb our mountains so Thames Hospice patients can climb theirs. 

Important Information

I am covering all of my costs as well as the minimum fundraising requirement for participation in the event - see my page for verification!!!  Every £ that you contribute will go directly to the charity for building the new hospice facility.  

Almost every one of us has been affected by cancer...relatives / friends / colleagues, etc.  This is an opportunity for us to show our support for all of those impacted and raise proceeds to help those in their time of need.

More specifically, for history on the origin of this project... When our very good friend Jason was 8, his father Paul Bevan was a successful businessman, ex-professional sportsman and full of energy. Diagnosed with cancer at the age of 42, he died in months. At a time of extreme personal demands on every level, Jason's mum Penny realised the support for patients and families with terminal illness was heavily under resourced. She combined forces with Paul's close friend and local GP to sponsor Macmillan nurses to help others in the same plight. With strong need for its services, the resource grew steadily and in 1995 the Paul Bevan Day Hospice was built in Ascot. Now merged with another hospice to form Thames Hospice, this amazing and highly reputed organisation has grown to become an important provider of palliative care. Inspired by both his parents, Jason has remained committed to the hospice throughout his life and in response to the £6M appeal to help fund the new hospice (which includes the Paul Bevan Centre), Jason pulled close friends and family contacts together to create the Big Mountain Challenge. The event hopes to make a substantial contribution to the construction of the phenomenal new home for Thames Hospice and it's new approach to end of life care.  

Your support would mean the world to me! 

My training started in March and I am taking this seriously. My first goal is taking part in the Outlaw Half Holkham, (July) where I will be cycling 56 miles.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for any donation you might feel able to give.

Kirsty x