I'm Bob Nolan and I'm deafblind. I have Ushers Syndrome, a condition resulting in my being born deaf and slowly going blind. I recently celebrated my 50th birthday and although I'd done several marathons for Deafblind Scotland, I'd been looking for a bigger challenge for some time - and a Land's End to John O'Groats Tandem Challenge with my deaf wife Louise, seemed like a great idea!
On Sunday 15 June, sixteen days, five parties, eight official welcomes and over 1,000 miles after setting off from Land’s End, Louise and I finally arrived in John O’Groats to complete our tandem cycle from the most southerly to the most northerly point of mainland Britain. Accompanied by our deaf school friends Martin and Abigail Willis, and Drena and Hammie O’Malley (the support team), we overcame all the hazards that British roads could throw at us, met some wonderful people and had an unforgettable 2 weeks. We also passed our fundraising target of £30,000 for Deafblind Scotland and increased awareness of deafblindness, which was also a key aim of the challenge.
For information and photos on the challenge, please visit our blog on: www.bobstandemride.zoomshare.com.
We really want to thank everyone for your generous support of our challenge , particularly as the £30,101 total does not include Gift Aid, which means the actual money raised for Deafblind Scotland is considerably more. Whilst this tandem challenge may be over, the work at DBS goes on and if anyone still wishes to make a donation to a very deserving cause, please make any cheques payable to Deafblind Scotland and send to; Deafblind Scotland, 21 Alexandra Avenue, Lenzie, Glasgow, G66 5BG. Thank you again.
Bob Nolan
28th September 2008
