To donate to our 2014 Ride4OCD please visit our new fundraising page:

http://www.justgiving.com/ocd

 

Ride4OCD - Anything is Possible!

Follow all our daily blogs and ride images at - http://www.ride4ocd.org/

So what is Ride4OCD?
In brief, approximately a 1110 mile cycle ride, which will see Paul and myself cycling from Land's End to John O'Groats (LEJOG), through three countries, covering an average of 75-85 miles a day. and covering just over 1110 miles in 14 days from August 17th to 30th August 2013, all in the name of raising awareness about OCD and fundraising for our charity. We will be helped in our project by Lisa in the support van (carrying luggage, bike tools and spares and snacks for us), who herself will be cycling a couple of hundred miles throughout the trip.

Our Ride4OCD has five principle objectives:
1 - Improving OCD awareness across the British Isles
2 - Fundraising for the national charity, OCD-UK
3 - Highlighting treatment inequalities between England, Scotland and Wales
4 - Demonstrating that both physical and mental challenges, can be tackled
5 - Bringing the OCD community together

Paul's Words....
Ashley Fulwood and I will be riding our bicycles from Land’s End to John O’Groats, via all points in between! Why am I doing this? I’m 57 this year, not very fit, not an habitual cyclist, so what’s the point? Well, several actually.

Fund-raising for OCD-UK: OCD-UK is a fine organisation run by people with OCD and their loved ones. It does a great job and needs the financial support, so I hope that people will support us financially.

Awareness-raising: in the course of the journey, we have planned all our stops so that people can meet with us to talk about OCD. Also we hope to attract some media interest with a view to raising the profile of OCD as a mental health issue which can be treated when detected. Also, people can join in for parts of the journey and people can chat to us on the journey (but not when going up hills please!)

Fitness-raising for me: Self evident and Selfish. Also selfishly looking forward to seeing the country; Ashley has done some great work on planning a really nice (gulp….hilly) route.

A further point. In my work with people suffering from anxiety I often ask people to do things which are, to put it mildly, challenging, which take a huge amount of effort and a long time. I’m seeing this cycle ride as the same kind of challenge for me! It is not the same, of course, but it will be no walk in the park……..

Lisa's Words....
I’m taking part in RIDE4OCD this year as I feel it’s imperative we change peoples’ perception of OCD and the impact it can have on the life of sufferers, family and friends. It was around June 2012 when I decided enough was enough, I could no longer live my life in the clutches of OCD; I decided to fight back. Having suffered from this debilitating illness from the age of eight I took that step on the road to recovery and for the first time in my life I can honestly say I am enjoying what each day brings. I feel the RIDE4OCD event symbolises the type of challenge ahead for sufferers; one that requires total determination, dedication and belief that you can achieve anything in life if you want to. I would hope that in reading this, I can encourage just one person to seek help to take their life back and beat OCD into touch as the rewards far outweigh the suffering you will continue to endure by living a life dictated by OCD. I believe recovery is possible and by taking part in this event, I hope to instill this belief into sufferers and give them the strength to fight.

 

Ashley's Words....
Desspite my London to Paris efforts of last year, I am still a novice cyclist (as you can tell from the pics) and this challenge is a huge step, both physically and mentally as the challenge of OCD will no doubt be accompanying me on the trip... I will be trying to lose it en-route!

Both myself and Paul are going to take this seriously with some serious training between now and August, Paul as already got 10 miles under his belt! We are not underestimating the physical challenges ahead of sweat, blisters, bruises, and sore behinds! With that in mind we hope you will give generously, we will be deserving it!

Prior to, and throughout the road trip we will be proactively seeking opportunities to meet with local media outlets to talk to them about OCD and the impact on those of us that suffer, and encourage local NHS trusts to not ignore the needs of those with OCD. We have set ourselves a target of 25 media pieces throughout the 14 days of the Ride4OCD road trip.

In coming weeks we will be publishing our draft route and locations and in encouraging members of the OCD community to get involved and join us cycling hour a few hours or days or just to meet and chat over a coffee or beer in the evenings. Full location details will appear on our website (www.ride4ocd.org) in a few weeks.

So, why am I putting myself through this madness when I am not at all fit as the pics show, I have a belly that makes me look pregnant, and the dodgiest of broken knees? Simples… because I want to do what I can to raise more awareness about the serious impact that Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) can have, something I have suffered with since a child, in addition the challenge will also of course raise much needed funding for OCD-UK, the charity I co-founded with my good buddy Steve back in 2003.

You can follow my training here (once the snow goes): http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/58229041

Because of the misconceptions and trivialisation of the illness in the popular media OCD the illness receives very little coverage and OCD-UK receives very little support outside of the OCD community. Because of these misconceptions about OCD there remains little public awareness about the debilitating and devastating impact the illness can cause, sometimes with sad and tragic consequences. I hope by participation in this event at some point along my training, fundraising and cycling journey I can help just one person understand OCD better, and if the funds I raise help me and the charity support just one other person with OCD reclaim their life back from OCD then my sweat and tears will be worth it.

My entire adult life has been dominated by OCD, and without a shadow of a doubt as impacted on me, my ability to have relationships for all of my teens and 20s, and at times as prevented me leading a full and fulfilling life, my quality of life was diminished because of the OCD. I won't say OCD as totally ruined my life, but I will say that OCD has done its bloody best to try and ruin my life! I am now fighting back, and whilst the OCD is still with me, it will no longer stop me attempting challenges like this, but still with all this planning I am already battling the mental challenge from the fear of contamination that I will face from using perhaps questionable public toilet facilities between accommodation stops, but OCD will not stop me anymore, so I am going to do this, OCD be damned!

I am sure that you are no doubt inundated with sponsorship requests from your friends, however we would really appreciate your consideration for sponsoring us. Both myself and Paul will be contributing to the trip costs, and we hope to seek sponsorship for other tour costs, which means we hope that most of your kind sponsorship donation will come to OCD-UK which will be used to support the charity's awareness and advocacy work.

So we would really value your support, perhaps by sending us a good luck message, or even joining us at some point during August, but most importantly we would value your sponsorship for OCD-UK through our fundraising page.

Text Donation
If you prefer, you can also donate by text message by texting 'OCDU50 £10' to 70070 to donate £10 to our target. The £10 is taken from your phone service account. You can make a text donation for any of the following amounts.

Text 'OCDU50 £1' to donate £1.
Text 'OCDU50 £2' to donate £2.
Text 'OCDU50 £3' to donate £3.
Text 'OCDU50 £4' to donate £4.
Text 'OCDU50 £5' to donate £5.
Text 'OCDU50 £10' to donate £10.

And if anyone actually fancies the challenge and doing a days cycling or the entire 14 day trip with us, then get in touch!

If anyone would like to ask us about the challenge, or just wants a bit more information about OCD then shoot me an email ashley@ocduk.org

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.

So please dig deep and donate now.