August 2021 update: I’ll be riding a 5-day bike tour around southern England, starting with a loop around the North Downs, then riding from Guildford to Salisbury, the New Forest, Portsmouth, round the Isle of Wight and back to Guildford. After such generous sponsorship last year, I’m not pushing for it this time but there remains great need for the Trussell Trust food banks, even more so now with supermarket shortages and Brexit price rises. So if you’ve made it here, please consider a kind donation while I ride with a strapped-up hamstring!

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To mark turning 50, I’ve been planning to cycle the story of my life, from where I was born, Guisborough in the North Riding of Yorkshire, via all the places in this country I’ve lived in – taking in Kirby, Oxford, Reading, Guildford, Reigate and London – to end in Cambridge.

It was just going to be a personal challenge to mark a significant milestone. However, having spent my 50th birthday in the pandemic lockdown, I wanted to turn the bike tour into a chance to raise money for the Trussell Trust, whose food banks so many people rely on and which sadly is in even greater demand now as the severe economic hardship for many during this crisis intensifies.

I will be setting off on Sunday 19th July. I’ll provide updates throughout the bike tour on my dedicated Twitter account: https://twitter.com/phil50biketour

Thank you for anything you are able to give to help the Trussell Trust help those who most need it.

Last year, food banks in the Trussell Trust network provided more than 1.6 million emergency food parcels to people in crisis. More than half a million of these went to children. It’s not right that people can’t afford the basics. With your help, the Trussell Trust can help end the need for food banks. As a nation, we expect no one should be left hungry or destitute. Illness, disability, family breakdown or the loss of a job can happen to any of us. With your help #ThisCanChange