Stephen Pashley
The Long Ride Home
Fundraising for LIVES
Story
On Friday April 13 last year Andy 'Stix' Thomas died of a heart attack at the age of 55. Stix was an amazing man. He brought so much joy, kindness and laughter into thousands of people's lives. If you didn't know him then hopefully you are lucky enough to know someone like him. Someone who's always smiling and always helping people to get the very most out of every day. To give you a small flavour of how loved Stix was, his funeral, in a small out of the way Lincolnshire town, attracted over 600 people.
To honour Stix's memory, I'm riding from his birthplace in Truro Cornwall to his home in Heckington, Lincolnshire between May 2 - 5. Approx 420 miles with 11,000 feet in elevation. I'm cycling with 11 other people, including Andy's wife Jane and son Luke. No-one in the group is an experienced cyclist, Most are beginners. We will all do our best to ride as far as we can each day and we commit to at least 5 people being on the road at any one time.
Andy's two daughters, Zoey and Lisa (plus families) are also heavily involved. And another 7 supporters are coming on the trip, providing logistical back-up and moral support. It's a real team effort. We're calling it The Long Ride Home. Like the page on facebook if you can, see @longridehome4stix .
We are raising money for LIVES, a Lincolnshire charity that that supports 700+ trained volunteers who get to their neighbours fast to deliver vital care in those first critical moments of a medical emergency - https://lives.org.uk/ - Lives volunteers attended Stix when he collapsed whilst playing the drums at a gig late on Friday the 13th April. Did i say he was a fantastic, accomplished drummer?
Initially we hoped to raise £5,000 but we have almost raised that already with sponsorships and various fundraising activities, so we’ve raised our collective target to £10,000. My personal target is £750.
I know that this sort of fundraising malarkey happens all the time. But it's the first time I've ever been motivated to do this and that's because Stix meant so much to me. So if you can afford to make a small donation, please do.
To keep you amused I'll start to post some training updates and pics (once I’ve started!)....thank you for reading this
Steve
To honour Stix's memory, I'm riding from his birthplace in Truro Cornwall to his home in Heckington, Lincolnshire between May 2 - 5. Approx 420 miles with 11,000 feet in elevation. I'm cycling with 11 other people, including Andy's wife Jane and son Luke. No-one in the group is an experienced cyclist, Most are beginners. We will all do our best to ride as far as we can each day and we commit to at least 5 people being on the road at any one time.
Andy's two daughters, Zoey and Lisa (plus families) are also heavily involved. And another 7 supporters are coming on the trip, providing logistical back-up and moral support. It's a real team effort. We're calling it The Long Ride Home. Like the page on facebook if you can, see @longridehome4stix .
We are raising money for LIVES, a Lincolnshire charity that that supports 700+ trained volunteers who get to their neighbours fast to deliver vital care in those first critical moments of a medical emergency - https://lives.org.uk/ - Lives volunteers attended Stix when he collapsed whilst playing the drums at a gig late on Friday the 13th April. Did i say he was a fantastic, accomplished drummer?
Initially we hoped to raise £5,000 but we have almost raised that already with sponsorships and various fundraising activities, so we’ve raised our collective target to £10,000. My personal target is £750.
I know that this sort of fundraising malarkey happens all the time. But it's the first time I've ever been motivated to do this and that's because Stix meant so much to me. So if you can afford to make a small donation, please do.
To keep you amused I'll start to post some training updates and pics (once I’ve started!)....thank you for reading this
Steve