UPDATE: I completed my ride on 9th September as planned. I covered 995 miles in around 72 hours over 10 days of riding. This included 65,558 feet of climbing and I burned off over 30,000 calories whilst riding.

The ride was much harder than expected, the weather was rainy at Lands End and the hills in Cornwall were very steep, so the first day was very tiring. The next few days I headed north, including over Dartmoor, the Severn Bridge and up through the Wye Valley and Lake District. These were long and hot days. I reached Scotland on day 6 and that really lifted my spirits - riding through Edinburgh was a tremendous experience and really brought home how far I'd cycled, even though there was a long way to go. Leaving Edinburgh took me through some amazingly beautiful countryside and that helped distract from some big and long hills - at least there were also long descents. I reached John o'Groats on target on day 10 and celebrated with photos and prosecco at the famous sign. I had chance for an ice-cream on the harbourside looking out towards the Orkneys and reflected on how lucky I'd been with the weather, not having any crashes or punctures and my body managing to adapt to the 100 miles of cycling and see me through unscathed. I was also delighted to have exceeded the sponsorship target and raised so much money for HOPE. Seeing the donations roll in really helped when I stopped for a break and needed a lift to get started again.

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In September, I am cycling the 1,000 miles from Land’s End to John O’Groats and raising money for The HOPE Foundation for Street Children. Thank you for any donation you can make.

I enjoy a bit of cycling and testing my limits. I also like to travel and so the chance to attempt the Land’s End to John O’Groats cycle ride (commonly known by the acronym LEJOG) and get from one end of Great Britain to the other under my own steam is too good an opportunity to miss this year. I’m being supported by the team at Peak Tours (https://www.peak-tours.com/) and aiming to ride around 100 miles each day for 10 days on my trusty Cannondale CAAD12.

I’m raising money for The HOPE Foundation because HOPE is an amazing charity that supports street children in India. I have been sponsoring a child in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) for a few years now and seen the difference that our support can make to these children’s future via the numerous newsletters, cards and updates HOPE send me. I chose to support HOPE firstly, because I fell in love with India when I was 24 and spent two months studying, working and travelling there. Then more recently, I was touched and then inspired by Sue Perkin’s travel programmes and her experiences with the street children of Kolkata. Sue became a staunch supporter of The HOPE Foundation and I decided it was the ideal charity to get involved with and also to raise money for on my LEJOG (100% of the money pledged here will go to HOPE).

The HOPE Foundation for Street Children works tirelessly to provide a lasting positive change to the lives of street connected children and slum communities in Kolkata, India. HOPE implements over 60 vital projects that focus on child protection, education, healthcare, and life skills services. I’ve agreed that any money I raise will go towards the healthcare projects in Kolkata: https://www.thehopefoundation.org.uk/what-we-do/healthcare-nutrition/

www.thehopefoundation.org.uk

info@thehopefoundation.org.uk

The Hope Foundation UK Registered charity number SC038809