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On September 12th 2018, me and several others from the office here at Dayinsure are going to be cycling from London to Paris, to raise money for The Joshua Tree. (Two of the team are actually riding from Tarporley to London, then joining us to Paris, but I'm not quite that hardcore!)

I haven't really ridden a bike since mountain biking in Scotland as an outdoor instructor, and when I got my sparkly new road bike to start training a month ago, I hadn't sat on a bike in nearly a year. Despite the old saying, I really did feel like I'd forgotten everything!

After a wobbly start, I'm really excited to get training for the ride. I've got 6 months to go from cycling very, very slowly in the cold to riding 65 miles a day for three days in the beautiful September sunshine! 

When I first heard about the possibility of this ride, I was definitely pulled in by the fitness and challenge aspect of it, but this all changed when Pete and Sara from The Joshua Tree came to talk to us about what our fundraising would actually be doing.

Hearing about the incredible work the charity does in supporting families with children who have had cancer and are now in recovery, and how there really isn't any other support like this for families in the North West, was an eye-opener. I always assumed that when a child comes out of hospital, recovery was a simple and quick process, but learning about the struggles and long-lasting effects that these families go through made it clear that that isn't the case.

We learned that the money we raise will help The Joshua Tree build their new Support Centre off Dalefords Lane, Sandiway, which will massively increase the level of support they can provide to families, including peer counselling and specially designed rooms to meet the needs of the children and their families.

Learning about how this money will change lives turned this bike ride from a fun fitness event to a real, meaningful thing that we can do to directly impact people who need help. I'm not asking for donations because you're impressed with the mileage (or because you know how unfit I am!), but because I want to help this wonderful charity, and I need your help to do this.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, if you have any questions (or helpful cycling tips - I really do feel like a rookie!) then get in touch!

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.