Mike McKean, James Dixon and Teri Bayliss from Newcastle Hospitals have set themselves the challenge of cycling to COP26 in Glasgow from London, via Newcastle, as part of a group of paediatric healthcare providers who are passionate about taking action to tackle the climate emergency.

Setting off from London on 24 October 2021, to arrive in Glasgow on 31 October 2021, the aim of our c1,000 km cycle is to communicate the seriousness of air pollution. Polluted air causes an estimated 7 million deaths annually, and shares the same root causes as the climate crisis. Our group also want to raise funds to support some of the innovative work that Newcastle Hospitals are doing to become more sustainable, such as:

Introducing reusable specimen transport boxes, eliminating 1M single use plastic bags per year

Trialling the use of e-bikes for paediatric physios

The UKs very first climate-friendly gas and air baby delivery

On the way to Glasgow, we will stop at children's hospitals across the UK for events in Oxford, Birmingham, Sheffield and Newcastle. Pollution Pods, an award-winning art installation dramatising the air quality crisis, will join the riders in all these cities.

Organised by the Climate Acceptance Studio, we are part of a group of cyclists that include staff from Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and Evelina Children's Hospital in London, Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, Sheffield Children's Hospital, the Great North Children's Hospital in Newcastle, and the Royal Hospital for Children Glasgow.

We will arrive in Glasgow as COP26 starts, where well announce the numbers of miles completed by Ride for their Lives participants around the world, speak out on air pollution, and hand over a call to action from the global health community calling for urgent action on the climate crisis.

We need to act now to get governments to act. By supporting our effort, you directly help us to take action to make our Hospitals more sustainable. Thank you for reading and for any support you can give!