Our dear friend and all round legend, Sam Ling Gibson, died last year in sudden and tragic circumstances. Sam had spent the last decade of his life living and teaching in Bogota, Colombia and had devoted much of his free time volunteering at Casa Taller de las Moyas, a grassroots NGO that offers children opportunities and aspirations in an area that offers little of both.

The amazing Casa Taller project works with children and teenagers in the San Luis community, a deprived area in the hills on the outskirts of the capital, Bogota. During his time there Sam had a huge impact on countless young people’s lives and he is an immense miss to the children and the staff.

Sam’s family and friends have set up a foundation in his name which aims to raise funds to continue the fantastic life changing projects at Casa Taller and carry on Sam’s legacy of encouraging and supporting disadvantaged children.

You can find out more about Casa Taller and the Sam Ling Gibson Trust at
www.samlinggibsontrust.org .

As Sam's mates we wanted to do something to raise money for the foundation and have come up with the Blackhall Mill to Bogotá challenge, or the ‘B2B’ as we have christened it.

This will involve us running, cycling or walking 5248 miles / 8846 km within the month of July, which is the equivalent distance between his home village of Blackhall Mill and his adopted home of Bogotá.

This will be quite a challenge and we are hoping to raise as much money as we can for the amazing work that Casa Taller do. We were aiming to raise a total of £5248 (£1 per mile) which would make a huge difference to the foundation and the children that they work with. However, as our team grows, we have decided to up the ante and instead aim to raise £10,496 which is £1 per mile from Blackhall Mill to Bogota...and back again!!

Please leave your email address in the comments when donating; this will allow us keep you up to date with how your support has helped, and also to claim an additional 25% GiftAid!

You can follow us on Instagram by searching @geordiecolombiano; we'll be posting updates and photos throughout our challenge!

Our Team is:

Adam Snowball; Andrew Lake; Andy Charlton; Andy Green; Ben Moreton; Bonnie Biddell; Calum Hurley; Chris Allan; Chris Bell; Daniela Gattegno; Dan Ridley; Dave Ashforth; Dave Groves; Dom McCracken; Ellie Butterworth; Fiona Maddison; Gillian Wells; Hal Convery; Harry Tittensor; Heather Bray; Holly Schofield; Iain Conlon; Jack Henderson; Jack Kane; Jack Ruane; James Moss; Jay Amin; Joe Bell; Joe Ling; Joseph Kane; Katie Byrne; Katy Wakenshaw; Lachlan Page; Liam McCracken; Liam Turnbull; Lisa Major; Lisa Henderson; Luna Milatovic; Natalie McQue; Neil Pritchard; Pablo Medina; Patrick Kane; Pete Smith; Robin Snaith; Rodolfo Ribeiro; Ronan Barrett; Ross Cavanagh; Sabrina Repa; Sammy Macnamara; Tom Willatt; Vicki McMorrow; Vince McSkimmings; Zoe Convery