Due to Covid-19, charities are struggling to survive!

For those that know me well, I have always been quite an active person, but sadly over the past few years I have lacked any motivation to exercise.

In April I decided to sign up to a 'Race At Your Pace' Challenge - to walk 100 miles in May. It became a habit (a good one) and I actually walked every day in May and clocked 205 miles! I enjoyed so many great walks with family and friends and on the 23rd May I walked a marathon and this is how my latest challenge started!

I had seen a medal advertised online that I loved which was part of 'The Conqueror Virtual Challenges' called the Inca Trail Virtual Marathon, so I bought it to remember the day I walked a marathon in lockdown! Some people will find it sad that I needed to buy a medal, but it has proved the best purchase I have made in a long while! Just as I was about to pay for it, up popped an offer of another challenge medal for half price! I love a bargain and as I was already thinking about what I could do in June, before I knew it, I had signed up to cycle from Lands End to John O'Groats virtually! To make it more of a challenge, it takes you the scenic route (1,083 miles), adding 209 miles to the shortest possible cycling route!

You will see from my progress that I am already over halfway through the challenge, so why has my fundraising page only just opened? There is a perfectly good reason for this! 

Having not ridden a bike for years, I decided on the 1st June to cycle the loop near my house before work at 5am! The loop is just over 3.5 miles and when I got back, I didn't know how I was ever going to complete this challenge in 12 weeks! I felt sick and my legs hurt!

It didn't put me off though and I cycled everyday in June! I had initially set myself a target of 300 miles for the month (roughly 70 miles per week) and I actually completed a whopping 567 miles!

So now I feel that I will finish this challenge, and well within the 12 weeks given, I really should make something good come out of it by raising some money for a local charity.

I have chosen Children's Hospice South West, because I can't even begin to imagine how families cope when their children are diagnosed with a life-limiting condition.

The charity provide care and support to families living in the South West, who have children with life-limiting conditions. They provide specialist palliative care, respite for the whole family, a sibling service for brothers and sisters, emergency support, end of life care and a bereavement service for as long as is needed.

Thank you for reading to the end. Please don't feel obliged to donate, but any support would mean a lot to me.

Zoe x