31st May to 29th June
www.drawingbreath.org
VERY MANY THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO'S HELPED ACHIEVE THE FIRST TARGET OF £500. NOW LETS GO FOR A GRAND! I have had difficulty accessing your emails to thank you personally, so if I don't already have your contact details, please know anyway how appreciative I am of each donation.
Update: I finished my ride at Sandown, Isle of Wight on 29th July. The total mileage, give or take a mile as i had trouble with my mileometer, was 188.8 miles, well over my projected 150 miles. As ever, please see blog at URL above for details.
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On Sunday 31st May I set out on my second cycle journey, this time between Hastings and the Isle of Wight, to raise funds for the British Lung Foundation. The project aimed to raise the profile of lung disease and demonstrate the potential of exercise for managing conditions like chronic obstructive lung disease - which I have - but the journey is also part of my ongoing arts and health project, Drawing Breath. I photographed and documented my journey as it happened and the completed narrative can be accessed on my blog at www.drawingbreath.org.
The most direct route is about 100 miles, though I had expected to cycle nearer to 150 with visits off route for shopping, local exploration and visits to BLF local Breathe Easy support groups. In the end I covered almost 190 miles including a Roman road through a forest north of my route, where I became lost in the dark and had to be rescued by a sweet National Trust warden, and a trip south to Selsey Bill where I crashed off the bike, luckily escaping with bruises and a sprained wrist.
The journey was about meeting people and setting up collaborative community art projects about breathing. On 17th June during Breathe Easy Week I was joined by my own Breathe Easy group (Canterbury and District) in the foyer of Eastbourne District General Hospital where we built an interactive balloon sculpture of giant lungs with the breath of patients, visitors and staff as a means of discussing lung health, and in the hope of persuading respiratory staff to set up a local Breathe Easy group. I gave talks on my project at Brighton and Worthing Breathe Easy groups and after arriving on the Isle of Wight on 27th June I joined up with their Breathe Easy group the next day for their 10th birthday party, then cycled coast to coast with the NHS local respiratory team's lead nurse as a lovely cross country finale to my ride.
So these four weeks have been more than a bike ride - rather a total experience which has been symbolic for me in terms of my own quality of life, and crucially a success in raising funds for the British Lung Foundation, on whom I and many thousands like me depend. I set out with a target of £500, but thanks to all donors the current total is three quarters towards my new target of a thousand.
Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It's also the most efficient way to sponsor me: British Lung Foundation gets your money faster and, if you're a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.
My ride has finished but retrospective sponsorship will be very appreciated for the BLF's ongoing struggle to provide support and research into cures for lung disease! Thank you.
On Sunday 31st May I set out on my second cycle journey, this time between Hastings and the Isle of Wight, to raise funds for the British Lung Foundation. The project aimed to raise the profile of lung disease and demonstrate the potential of exercise for managing conditions like chronic obstructive lung disease - which I have - but the journey is also part of my ongoing arts and health project, Drawing Breath. I photographed and documented my journey as it happened and the completed narrative can be accessed on my blog at www.drawingbreath.org.
The most direct route is about 100 miles, though I had expected to cycle nearer to 150 with visits off route for shopping, local exploration and visits to BLF local Breathe Easy support groups. In the end I covered almost 190 miles including a Roman road through a forest north of my route, where I became lost in the dark and had to be rescued by a sweet National Trust warden, and a trip south to Selsey Bill where I crashed off the bike, luckily escaping with bruises and a sprained wrist.
The journey was about meeting people and setting up collaborative community art projects about breathing. On 17th June during Breathe Easy Week I was joined by my own Breathe Easy group (Canterbury and District) in the foyer of Eastbourne District General Hospital where we built an interactive balloon sculpture of giant lungs with the breath of patients, visitors and staff as a means of discussing lung health, and in the hope of persuading respiratory staff to set up a local Breathe Easy group. I gave talks on my project at Brighton and Worthing Breathe Easy groups and after arriving on the Isle of Wight on 27th June I joined up with their Breathe Easy group the next day for their 10th birthday party, then cycled coast to coast with the NHS local respiratory team's lead nurse as a lovely cross country finale to my ride.
So these four weeks have been more than a bike ride - rather a total experience which has been symbolic for me in terms of my own quality of life, and crucially a success in raising funds for the British Lung Foundation, on whom I and many thousands like me depend. I set out with a target of £500, but thanks to all donors the current total is three quarters towards my new target of a thousand.
Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It's also the most efficient way to sponsor me: British Lung Foundation gets your money faster and, if you're a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.
My ride has finished but retrospective sponsorship will be very appreciated for the BLF's ongoing struggle to provide support and research into cures for lung disease! Thank you.
