We - Mark, Sam and Lucas - are going to cycle to Folkestone from the London Eye, row across the Channel to Calais and then cycle to the Eiffel Tower - all from lockdown in our basement. This is a distance of 397kms road and 34kms water.  We will do this non-stop by relay starting at 7am Saturday morning 25th April and hoping to finish by 2am on Sunday. We will post updates and a map showing our progress.  

Please sponsor us - and this is why:

The current lockdown puts us all under pressure but no people more so than victims of domestic abuse. Locked in with their abuser 24 hours/day victims are at the mercy of someone who may have no control over current events but can still control the people they live with. Calls to The National Domestic Abuse Helpline rose by more than 25% in the first week and traffic to the website by 700% since the UK lockdown began. Following media coverage of the helpline, calls rose by 120% in a day. This is an enormous increase which underscores what we already know – domestic abuse is a scourge on society.

As one domestic abuse survivor said to Refuge: "Home was not a safe place for me – and it’s not a safe place for thousands of women living with abusive partners."

One woman in four will experience domestic violence at some point in her lifetime and two women are killed each week in England and Wales by a current or former partner. Refuge supports around 6,000 women & children on any given day, experiencing domestic and sexual violence, female genital mutilation, forced marriage, stalking, trafficking, prostitution & so-called ‘honour’ based violence.By kindly sponsoring us today you are helping to save and change the lives of thousands of women and children escaping domestic violence.Thank you.

#SafetyInANumber

#YouAreNotAlone