Hi there, thanks for taking a look!

On the 10th of August, my friend Chris and I will be jumping on a train with our bikes heading down to Land's End in Cornwall. Hoping we get down there without any mishaps, we'll then set off cycling north, finding places to camp on the way (and staying with a few pals too) and get to John O' Groats in about 2 weeks time. The plan started on New Year's day this year and is miraculously actually going to happen, and very soon too - yikes.

I personally hadn't really thought about raising money for charity doing this cycle; I've just always fancied doing Land's End to John O'Groats. But then it seemed a bit silly not to, so here we are.

The charity we've chosen is Birchwood Highland, who work with people suffering from mental illness and provide support to aid their recovery. They support people in their own homes, as well as running community activities and their own recovery centre. (A link to their website should be on this page somewhere.) As the name suggests, they're based in the Highlands but cover a wide area, including Fort William. The work they do is of huge importance, especially as mental illness is prevalent in the Highlands, which is often isolating and, to use the correct term for it, pretty blooming dreich sometimes. As well as this, treatment for mental illness has suffered from huge funding cuts - credit to our loving and wonderful Tory government.

So why mental health you may ask. Well, my mum (Anne-Mairi or Tich as she was called quite often) suffered awfully from mental illness for a number of years and never did make a recovery. Almost exactly two years ago she took her own life. It had a huge impact on me, the rest of my family, friends of the family and her friends, neighbours, people who'd tried to help her... And so that's the underlying reason for choosing Birchwood Highland. But also for other family members who suffer from mental illness, friends with depression or suffering from anxiety, locals in our community, friends of friends, even for myself with my occasional bouts of blues - it is sadly very common.

Anyway, sorry for yarning on. It would mean a huge amount to me and Chris if you would donate to this cause. We have a pretty hefty target but hopefully we'll have a good shot at it. (The support so far has been absolutely amazing!) Even if it's the change in your pocket right now or the price of a Freddo (30p, bonkers), we would be incredibly grateful!

Thanks for taking the time to take a look at our page and hopefully we can raise some money to combat this right-old-git of an illness.

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.