I shall be riding from Land's End to John O'Groats (Lejog) with Lucy Smith, on a tandem, over 12 days in June. We are raising money for Thomas's Fund: a charity providing music therapy and named in honour of Lucy and her husband Tim's son who died in 2004 from a life-limiting neurodegenerative condition, aged 10.

Thomas greatly enjoyed and benefited from the music therapy which he received from Jan Hall, who went on to create Thomas's Fund in his name.  When Thomas was 4, his little brother Harry was born. Harry developed similar conditions to those of Thomas meaning that he too required and benefited from music therapy. In his case, this was ultimately provided by Thomas's fund, before his death aged 12 in 2010.

When my good friends Tim and Lucy shared their plans to ride on their tandem, unsupported, from Land's End to John O'Groats I was keen to find out how I could support their efforts. I have ridden Lejog before (in 2011) with a great group of friends from the company I was working for then, but that was a supported ride (thanks Ken, Ann, Tina and Mark), meaning that our luggage was transported for us and we had fresh cups of tea waiting for us at regular intervals. Tim and Lucy's plan to ride unsupported seemed to me to be a "next level" challenge, so I was keen to take part.

Their original plan was for the ride to take place in 2020. My thinking then, was that I would join them for just a few days in Scotland. The pandemic put paid to those original dates, forcing the ride to be rescheduled for 2021. But once again, Covid made this an impossibility, so third time lucky in 2022?

After Tim and Lucy had put so much effort into their plans for such a great cause I changed my plans and decided to ride the full Lejog with them - albeit on a solo bicycle. Matt Plews, a mutual friend was also committed to the same plans. So, that was going to be it for 2022: one tandem, ridden by Tim and Lucy, and two solo bikes, ridden by Matt and me.

What else could come along and scupper the plans? A back injury for Tim - that's what. This back injury has led to Tim undergoing two surgeries in the last few weeks. Meaning there is really no possibility that Tim could undertake such a long tandem bike ride in the near future. To most people, this additional hurdle could have been the one to make them throw in the towel. But no, faced with another difficulty, Tim went straight into replanning mode: what could be done to keep the dream alive? I was delighted to be asked by Tim if I would consider stepping in and riding pilot on the tandem - allowing Lucy to continue with their plans as stoker.

A few test rides later, culminating with two back to back rides in excess of 100km, and I am delighted to be able to confirm that this is now The Plan. With only three weeks to go, surely this has to be it.

Thomas - the inspiration

Thomas Smith died in 2004, aged 10, from a life-limiting neurodegenerative condition. He lived a short life, unable to attend school all year round but, thanks to Tim and Lucy, his life was packed with amazing experiences; activities and fun – a big part of which came through his love of music. Music therapy had a vital role to play in Thomas’s life. Had the Thomas's Fund charity existed then, he would have benefited from being able to have music therapy at home, when he was too ill to attend school. At that time most school support was not available once children were no longer able to get to the school itself. The founder of Thomas's Fund approached Tim and Lucy to ask if she could name the fund in his honour with the aim of addressing these needs and providing this crucial service. As was the case with Thomas, many children are too ill to travel far beyond their homes, and are unable to attend school or a therapeutic setting for long periods. These children and young people now have Thomas’s Fund to help them.

Any donations for this charity which of course means so much to my friends Tim and Lucy will be much appreciated.