17 - 22 May 2018

One woman, one bike, two charities, two hundred miles, six days......

For the last four years I have volunteered for the Carlisle branch of Marriagecare. Marriagecare (then the Catholic Marriage Advisory Council) was set up 70 years ago in 1946 in response to the marital difficulties being experienced by many servicemen and women at the end of WWII. Now 70 years on, we counsel couples of all faiths and none.

The Carlisle Centre is manned by 9 volunteers and we cover North and West Cumbria. Our Centre been in existence for more than 30 years, and we have worked with hundreds of couples regardless of their ability to pay.

Unlike many other relationship counselling services which charge clients a fee, we are a Charity and rely on donations to fund our work. As with many charities, government funding to help with this work has reduced dramatically over the last couple of years.

For 30 years, Carlisle Centre had the luxury of having premises which were free of charge. That changed in 2017 when we had to find a new base. We now have two rooms in Fisher Street Galleries in Carlisle, ideal for our needs but at a price.

.At around the same time, two friends suffered the immense sadness of losing their baby girl just before she was due to be born. Couples need immense strength to cope with such a tragedy, particularly when there is no medical explanation for what has happened. Medical research, for all its advances, has still no answers for such a a sad, heartbreaking event.

So late last year I decided it was time that I did more to help both my charity Marriagecare, and Sands, the Stillbirths and Neonatal Deaths Charity. There comes a time in life when you realise that it's time to set yourself a challenge, have a bit of an adventure, and hopefully do some good in the process.

I love my bike - a bergamont electric - and I began to think of a long bike ride. And my challenge is to cycle from Carlisle to Edinburgh and back over six days. It may not be the distance of Bewcastle to Rome ( 1,141 miles) or even Lands End to John O'Groats, but then I'm not in the first flush of youth. It's a total of 218.6 hard miles ( could be longer as I've always loved a combination of poor navigational skills and scenic routes) and there are some pretty steep climbs between Carlisle and Edinburgh and return with around 10,000 feet of ascent and descent in total.

Don't be deceived into thinking that battery equals cheating, believe me it doesn't - it just means I can actually get to the top of very steep hills without getting off the bike, and even getting off still happens occasionally.

I will have a full support team with me, (John Don), who will be responsible for not only all things mechanical but also for being far enough in front of me to make me grit my teeth and carry on regardless.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my page. Please give a little or a lot. Your support not only means a lot to me - it will keep me going when the going gets tougher, the rain comes down and the hills go ever upwards. Not only that but it will also help two worthy charities continue their good work in helping couples through difficult times.

Marriage care

Sands