Shine provides specialist support from before birth and throughout the life of anyone living with spina bifida and/or hydrocephalus, as well as to parents, families, carers and professional care staff. Shine enables people to get the best out of life.Everything we do is made possible by our generous supporters. Your fundraising efforts help individuals and families in your local communities across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Every donation has the potential for profound impact.THANK YOU for supporting Shine!

Thomas, John and Mark are cycling from London to Paris in august 2017 to raise awareness and money for a fantastic local charity called SHINE – Spina bifida – Hydrocephalus – Information – networking – Equality. 

In 2013 Thomas and Sylvia were blessed with the news that their second child was on the way. During a routine 20 week ultrasound scan, they found out their little girl Chloe was suffering from Spina Bifida. Chloe was born in October 2013 and suffers from Spina Bifida- a condition where a fault in the development of the spinal cord and surrounding vertebrae leaves a gap meaning the spinal cord does not form properly or is damaged. She also suffers from hydrocephalus.

Chloe battles with these illnesses everyday and is one of the happiest, bubbliest, funniest, kindest children. She really is such a joy to have as a child and has brought so much to our family. SHINE have been such a magnificent help to us with Chloe offering information, advice and any amount support we have needed. 

In the hope to give something back Thomas and his two brothers, John and Mark, have decided to raise awareness and money for this very worthwhile charity SHINE in recognition of all the support we have received. 

We may not be wise – but we are going to cycle from London To Paris in August to raise money. To put this in perspective, anyone of us would struggle to do 30 or 40 miles on a bike currently, and this challenge is to cover a distance of 500km over a 5 day period. We all feel that this is a huge challenge but we are up for it. We have already started training in preparation for this. 

The money raised from this cycle will help improve the quality of life of many individuals living with Spina Bifida and we would like to encourage as many people to donate to this worthy cause – please just give what you can.

We’ll post updates along the way providing info on the training progress, and more importantly, loads of pics of the 3 of us in skimpy lycra cycling gear!