Thanks for taking the time to visit our Just Giving page.

As many of you are aware we have been planning to do a fundraising event this year in memory of our son, Harry. Unbelievably October 29th 2009 will mark 10 years since Harry lost his battle against neuroblastoma and we want to do something at this time to remember a special little boy.

We plan to cycle from Birmingham Children's Hospital, where our journey with Harry began to our home in York, where it sadly ended. Some of our family and friends will be cycling with us for all or part of the ride. Together, through doing this we will not only be remembering Harry but raise some valuable funds for Martin House Children's Hospice and Candlelighters, both are charities which mean a great deal to us as they not only offered support to our family during Harry's illness but also after he died.

We will cycle over 4 days ( Saturday 24th - Tuesday 27th October ) with the journey being approximately  290km (180 miles) covering Birmingham - Long Eaton, Long Eaton - Worksop, Worksop - Owston, Owston to York

We will complete the ride on a tandem as we have travelled an emotional and sometimes difficult journey together over the last 10 years - to cycle independently would not seem right.

Every  donation will go directly to the charity. Please, please give generously as we're not too sure we'll do anything like this again!

Please note we have 2 webpages in respect of the charities we are fundraising for - if you can split your online donation across the 2 pages that would be really helpful

Donate to Martin House at www.justgiving.com/rememberingHarry1 and
Support Candlelighters at www.justgiving.com/rememberingHarry2

Many thanks for your support.
Liz & Mike xx

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 - We raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.

 

July 4th - First proper attempt to map out the route. Set off with Mr Banks from York. It's only 90 miles to Worksop - how difficult can that be?! Well 14 hours of cycling later, finally reached the hotel at 1030pm - perhaps this cycling thing is not such a doddle after all.

July 6th - still sore from the 90 miles, Mike & Liz set off on their "tandem day" - will we be speaking by the end of the day? 45mins instruction followed by few hours riding around the Ilkley countryside - unbelievably good fun and no arguments!

August 15th - back to Worksop again, this time with George. Cycled back towards York 48miles - much easier route despite being sent 10 miles the wrong way by a helpful elderly cyclist

August 22nd - back to our favourite place Worksop! - this time in the car checking out the route from Derby up to Doncaster. Poor Ed & Grace spent 8 hours in the car playing I-spy and looking for National Cycle route signs!

August 29th - checking out the first leg - Sutton Coldfield to Long Eaton (49mls). Great day's cycling with Steve Higgins & Stuart Tucker - sadly Stuart could only make it to Lichfield (pretty good effort to do 20miles when your last bike ride was on a Chopper in 1978)

September 7th - Well after months of planning it's definitely happening and we are delighted with our squad of 16 for the bike ride. In addition to me, Liz & George we are pleased to welcome Steve & Helen Higgins, John Verrier, Catherine & Paul Banks, Sarah Edwards, Leah Greenbank, Sue Laird, Fiona Meehan, Stuart Tucker, Ian Beesley, Russell Hall, Steve Saunders - please give generously to support all of these great, yet slightly crazy people.

September 8th - Support Van sorted, Drivers sorted, Tandem hired & Hotels booked - Bring it on!

September 14th - cycled 30miles home from work - into a headwind all the way to York. Maybe Day 4 will not be so easy after all?!

September 24th - first chance to cycle some of the route with Liz. Checking out Day 2 (Long Eaton to Worksop) with Sarah Edwards. Got lost no less than five times!! Challenging but fun day - very pleased to finally arrive in my favourite town of Worksop

September 26th - Thanks to the generous people of Dunnington - £720 raised at our coffee morning

September 27th - Liz & Mike get some much needed practice on the tandem - cycled 32miles to & from Castle Howard & we made it up the hills!!

October 10th - Unbelievable!! - Grace's dance group raise £1810 from their excellent shows. Massive thanks to Elaine & the team at Clover

October 16th - last bit of the route finally mapped out from Sykehouse to Cowick - now I have cycled or walked it all to make sure we don't get lost - famous last words!! 

November 1st - Well we did it!!! - what an amazing experience and a fantastic but emotional way to remember our special little boy. The ride was officialy clocked at 182 miles passing through beautiful countryside from Birmingham to York with many undulations and some very uneven terrain along the way!!  Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, all finished pretty much unscathed - and even the falls & the punctures helped add to the great memories!! To be honest we could not have asked for a better four days spent cycling with 16 wonderful friends and family. Our fundraising target was to raise £10000 to be shared between Martin House and Candlelighters & as you can see from the web pages we have easily reached this goal.

Thanks you for your continued fantastic support and encouragement, but most of all for Remembering Harry.

All our love

Mike & Liz