Dave's Lakeland Monster Miles Adventure Cross

Please support me as I aim to cycle 65 miles in one of the UK’s most challenging cycle events – The Lakeland Monster Miles Adventure Cross on Sunday 15 October in memory of our oldest son Richard, who died of cancer aged 21 and to support our aim to set up the Richard Pover Outstanding Contribution Scholarship in the mechanical engineering department of the University of Sheffield, which will ensure that Richard is never forgotten in the place where he was so happy and help others to go out into the engineering world and make their mark, as Richard would have done.

The event has a difficulty rating of 10/10 and will see competitors cycle 65 miles and nearly 6,000ft on very challenging terrain. Every penny we raise will support the Richard Pover Endowment at the University of Sheffield aimed at supporting the next generation of engineers.

You can also see our main page, which shows all of our fundraising to date by copying the link below into your browser.

www.justgiving.com/rememberingrichardpover

This 'Riding for Richard' page is linked to our main page, but due to changes with the justgiving website, you can only see this by copying the link above.

Event website - www.ukcyclingevents.co.uk/events/lakeland-monster-miles-adventure-cross/

Event video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=155&v=JiWf0Jt-wi0

Our story and why you should give

Richard was diagnosed with testicular cancer in November 2011, aged 20, during the third year of his MEng degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Sheffield.

He underwent gruelling treatment for 19 months in Sheffield's Weston Park Hospital, never once complaining or feeling sorry for himself, but despite the high cure rate for this type of cancer, he died on 13th June 2013, on the day he would have left university had he been able to complete his degree.

There are no words to describe the despair we felt on losing our wonderful son and Chris and Stephen their big brother. Richard had everything to live for and the brightest of futures ahead of him, but it was not to be - his cancer was rare and aggressive and had no respect for age or prospects.

Since Richard's death we have concentrated our efforts on raising money for a variety of cancer charities, including the Teenage Cancer Trust, as Richard received such wonderful care in their Sheffield unit, but this latest challenge is a personal quest for us - to raise money for a lasting award in Richard's name which would mean he would never be forgotten and in addition would help other engineering students from Sheffield University, where Richard was so happy.

The award would be given annually with a presentation at the engineering graduation ceremony. Recipients would be given an information sheet about the scholarship and future engineers would know about Richard and his story. It would be a prestigious award that students wished to attain.

By doing something positive for Richard it helps us to overcome the tragedy of his loss and we will be
thinking of ways to raise money, but ask people to donate anyway - to support future generations of engineers from Sheffield, to support us, Richard's family, as we learn to live without him, but most of all to ensure that our wonderful, courageous, inspirational son is never forgotten. That is so important to us. Thank you so much.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.