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This Summer I will be taking part in a massive 2 week challenge – to ride a motorcycle from London, over 3600 miles through 12 countries, to Chernobyl and back.

So this “Long Way Round Lite” promises to be an amazing once in a lifetime experience - but as you can see I’m not just doing it for fun. I am one of 10 riders each hoping to raise a minimum of £1000 each for a charity known as Friends of Chernobyl’s Children (FOCC).

The charity helps bring underprivileged Belarusian children growing up in the Chernobyl radiation zone to the UK to stay with host families for one month every year. Because of the radioactivity they are subjected to these 7-12 year olds have an average life expectancy of just 35 years! One month each year of cleaner air, food and water provides a vital health break for their run down immune systems and has been statistically proven to add 2-3 years to their compromised lives. The children visit over 5 years, the cumulative effect of which is estimated to significantly increases their long term health prospects. Imagine that – 5 years of ‘holidays’ to increase your lifespan!

The 10 riders hope to raise over £10,000 for the Diss (Norfolk) FOCC chapter. Why Norfolk? Well, I worked Anglia TV in Norwich from 1999 to 2000 (directing Trisha, My Secret, Jerry Springer UK and Guilty!) and Dave Kingdom Anglia TV’s Head of Graphics invited me to join the challenge.

Dave and his family are regular FOCC hosts and he completed a similar adventure in 2008 - so for him this will be a twice in a lifetime experience!

The Chernobyl Challenge will be a colossal test of endurance - I’ve only been riding (a scooter) for little over two years and in that short time my daily commute from Fulham to the West End is just 11 miles (18km). On the journey to Belarus our average daily mileage will be around 224 miles (360km)!

When I owned my scooter my longest ride in one day was to the Top Gear studios in Surrey and back – a distance of 87miles (140km). On one day on this trans-Europe trip we will ride 325 miles (523km) through the Ukraine!

In London I used to get around on a 125cc Vespa that has a theoretical top speed of 63mph (102kph) – although in traffic I rarely get above 40mph (64kph). I have recently bought, and am learning to ride, a 1000cc sports touring bike with a top speed of over 140mph (200kph)!

Between now and June I will be posting regular updates of my preparations on Twitter and Facebook along with photos and short video clips. During the journey I will be filing regular travel blog updates and photos of the trip, which will culminate in a visit to an orphanage in Gomel, a heavily industrialised city where incidences of thyroid cancer in children have increased 3000% since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

If you can spare a couple of quid please consider sending it to this worthy cause. All money raised here goes directly to the registered charity via Just Giving and the riders will each cover our expenses incurred during the journey.

It really is a terrific charity as the joy and life changing experiences that these children gain from FOCC are hugely beneficial and immediate.

It’s going to be an amazing but challenging trip and I can’t wait to meet the children at the Gomel orphanage!

Thank you for reading this note and please give a little if you can.

Peter Demetris

Chernobyl Challenge Facebook Page

Chernobyl Challenge Twitter Feed

FOCC Diss Facebook Page