James Barratt
Cycling from Leeds to Paris in memory of my brother Bill.
Fundraising for Headway Essex
Story
When: Mon 2nd June - Fri 6th June.
The route: Leeds-Boston-London-Dover Calais-Amiens-Paris.
Why ride from Leeds to Paris? Well, this year the Tour de France sets off from Leeds for a brief spin around Yorkshire, followed by a trip to London via Cambridge. After a long journey around France it will conclude, as always, on the Champs-Élysée in Paris. So I've decided to do the same, although I’ll be taking a more direct approach!
That’s around 500 miles of road to cover in 5 days. I've never come close to these kind of distances before so this is going to be a hard slog! But it will be worth it. I'm doing it in memory of my brother Bill, who we lost in December 2010 after he suffered from a severe brain haemorrhage. We miss him still.
The aim of this ride is to raise money for Headway Essex, a charity we have supported over the last few years after they helped my sister-in-law come to terms with Bill's sudden passing. They are dedicated to providing valuable rehabilitative care for those that survive brain injuries and also provide support for their loved ones, who can often be overlooked but share in the uncertainty and frustration that comes with such issues as personality and behavioural changes, memory loss and working towards regaining independence and trust in judgement. Brain injuries don't just affect individuals, they affect families and can put their relationships under tremendous stress.
This is going to be an arduous journey, so please give whatever you can. Every little bit of support will go a long way to pushing me on to the end. My trip is self organised and self funded so all donations, whether online or offline, will go towards the worthy work that Headway Essex carry out. If you prefer, you can also donate by simply texting the code JMMY99 followed by £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10 to 70070.
Many thanks, Jimmy
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