Hi all,

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

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 and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Well this crazy idea started late one Saturday night. I happened to mention to Pammy (my friend of 30 years and my cycling companion on this trip) that I fancied an adventure. I was thinking more of a holiday in Italy, mountains, sun, pool. Some how (and I can't remember how), she mentioned doing the Coast to Coast cycle ride. I laughed.

Pammy by the way, has her own business called Backbone (www.pammyjohal.com) - she takes groups on hikes up mountains and cycle trips all over the world. I on the other hand, love the sofa; I do go to the gym, but have only ever cycled from Ilkley to Otley - a total of 12 miles.  Anyway the next morning I thought........WHY NOT!!!!!

So under the guidance of Backbone, (who are donating their time to this trip) we are cycling from Ravenglass in Cumbria to Tynemouth. A total of 174 miles.

Here is a link showing the profile of the route.http://www.cycle-routes.org/HADRIANSCYCLEWAY/general/profiles.htm

Now you can see the challenge that lies ahead of me!!!

So I thought.......to put the pain, endurance and no doubt the euphoria, that I will experience at the end of this trip to good use, I am doing it for charity and this is where you become involved......

The charity I have chosen is 'Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide'.(SOBS). The reason for this is because many of us will either know someone or know of someone who is in this situation. To know more about what they do, follow this link to their website,

http://www.uk-sobs.org.uk/

They are a self-help organisation.  Many of their volunteers have themselves been bereaved by suicide.

Their aim to provide a safe, confidential environment in which bereaved people can share their experiences and feelings, so giving and gaining support from each other. They also strive to improve public awareness and maintain contacts with many other statutory and voluntary organisations.

Suicide recognises no age,  gender, social, ethnic or cultural boundaries. Their groups are open to any individual or family.

So please consider a donation.

Thank you,

Mairead