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Liz and Linda had to brave the aftermath of Hurricane Irene throughout the ride. They had fierce wind and rain with a particularly foul hail storm near Newark near the end of day 2. The route across the bare flat expanse of Crowle Moor between Epworth and Goole on day 3 had exceptionally hard side and head winds as the road twisted and turned with no hedges or anything else to break the force of the wind. Liz and Linda have renamed it “Cruel Moor”. Despite all of this challenge Liz and Linda averaged an amazing 12 mph throughout the 3 days. Fantastic

 After a spell of sunshine they arrived at The Beatrice Wright Training Centre in a shower of rain, “Welcome to Yorkshire!!” said one of the many staff who had turned out to give them a wonderful greeting complete with finishing tape. That greeting and the thought that c£2,000 will be raised made it a great feeling for Liz and Linda as they broke the tape. They would like to thank everybody who donated.

 Jit and Crocker; Denise, Pauline and Merlin; and Lucy and Isaac helped with memorable fund raising events at the two overnight stays at the Bulls Head, Arthingworth near Market Harborough and the Lord Nelson at Besthorpe near Newark. We would like to thank Sandy and Kevin Hopcraft and the Cotterill family for being such wonderful hosts.

Why? At least one person in seven has significant hearing loss. Wendy comes to Liz's Lip Reading Class in Alfreton and she knows how isolating hearing loss can be. A common reaction to hearing loss is to withdraw from normal life because it becomes too hard and often people are intolerant, rather than helpful. Hearing Dogs help their partners 24 hours a day if required, for example informing their partner if the telephone rings or if there is anything unusual or potentially dangerous happening. Vitally they give their partners the confidence to go out into the world and use all their own talents instead of withdrawing. We want to help John and Wendy North raise money to train Hearing Dogs. We have set ourselves the challenge of raising £5,000 which would enable one dog to be prepared to transform a life.

What? Hearing Dogs is the chosen charity of John and Wendy North who will be President of the Rotary club of West Ashfield  and the Inner Wheel of West Ashfield for their year of office during 2011-12. They have chosen this as their launch event. http://www.rotary1220.org/was/

How? Liz Kopp and Linda Thelwell are going to cycle from Hearing Dogs HQ in Saunderton, Buckinghamshire 200 miles to the Hearing Dogs Training Centre at Bielby, Yorkshire from the 6th September to the 8th September 2011.  Fund raising evenings will be held at our overnight stops thanks to the kindness of the Publicans. Come and join us if you can and reward them by buying a pint or few! They are Sandy and Kevin Hopcraft at the Bulls Head, Arthingworth, Northants www.thebullsheadonline.co.uk on the 6 September and Richard, Margaret and Joan Cotterill at the Lord Nelson, Besthorpe, near Newark http://thenelsonbesthorpe.co.uk on the 7 September.

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