Peter David
Pete and Andrew's John O'Groats to Lands End Bike Ride for Solace
Fundraising for Solace Surviving Persecution and Exile
Story
Hey, everyone! Andrew and I have decided to ride our bikes from John O' Groats to Lands End in June to raise money for an incredible organisation called Solace. They provide counselling and psychotherapy for the survivors of persecution and exile now living in Yorkshire. These are people who have been traumatised by torture, rape, the death and disappearance of loved ones, and in many cases are experiencing severe post-traumatic stress disorder. The work that Solace do is genuinely life changing.
I first heard about Solace from my partner who works for the Sheffield-based charity, SAVTE. They train and support volunteers to teach English in the community, and work closely with Solace. After hearing more about what they do, I was struck by how important this work is. Imagine suffering the brutalities of war, and finding yourself isolated in another country, struggling with a new culture and language, and on top of that, dealing with the stress and trauma of your experience. Thank god for Solace. They need our support to continue and extend their work.
So Andrew and I both turn 40 this year, and in true mid-life crisis style, we wanted to set ourselves a big challenge. We're both keen cyclists, and after getting more into long-distance riding, we decided it was time for a big one - the length of Britain! We'll be tackling the challenge of John O' Groats in the north-east of Scotland to Lands End at the tip of Cornwall over 9 days. It's an average of around 180km (or 112 miles) a day. It's a huge challenge for us, but we're very excited about taking it on.
Rather than take the most direct route, we wanted to see as much of this beautiful country as possible, so we'll be travelling through the Cairngorms, Northumberland, the North Pennines, the Yorkshire Dales, the Peak District, the Malvern Hills, the Wye Valley, the Mendip Hills, Exmoor, and no doubt lots of other hidden beauties we don't know about yet.
We'll update you all on our training as we prepare for our challenge, but please donate generously. Solace isn't a huge charity, and you can see from their website how their work has saved lives. Thank you!
Pete