Midnight, the last Saturday before Christmas, a cathedral like marquee. It was a wedding, a beautiful couple, the happiest day.

The band was banging out deafening tunes, Sal was looking pretty special in her dress and her hair was flying around to the beat, quite a celebration.

I was waiting for the Police to arrive. They would either get Chris to turn the noise down or arrest him on his daughter’s wedding day.

I was smiling to myself. It never happened. A perfect day.

Ronnie whose real name is Ian Slater, from 2 feet away bellowed to me, "Do you want to go to Italy?"

I shouted back "YES"

He shouted back "It's a bike ride, Rome to Pompeii."

I said "Okay"

He bellowed again "It's not until October, you'll have to train."

I said "Okay"

The band played on...

For many of us it's so easy to just say 'YES'!

I love pizza, I love The Godfather, it's in my top 10, the language in the barbers and the Italy football shirt. Why wouldn’t I just say YES?

Truth. I’m not mad about cycling!

Ronnie said, ‘We're going to self-fund and choose a charity’. So we both did.

I've been training for God knows how many my miles - that is a rhetorical statement, he really does know.
I keep saying 'My God how much further?'
But cycling is also a technical sport and I guess I must have missed that bit. If you had a bike as a kid, it means nothing.
Ronnie and I have got helmets, Lycra, weird shoes, bottles of chemical, we’ve got everything now.

More than half of my training ride take me past Thomley Hall. My first puncture was just 300 yards from Thomley (Sal rescued me in the car, it was chucking it down).

The charity we all love at work is Thomley Hall but that's not the reason.
Here is the reason.
Who is Thomley?

This is how they explained it to me.

Thomley has been supporting disabled people, their families, friends and carers for over 20 years.
The uniqueness of Thomley is that it provides services for disabled people of all ages and impairments. It is able to support people, their families, friends and carers throughout their lives.

Why Thomley?

Learning starts early in life and it’s mainly through play, leisure and recreational activities.
For all of us, this is the initial start where we build social skills, physical capacity and confidence, as well as learning to manage risks.

Disabled people don’t have the same opportunities as their non-disabled peers to engage in recreational, play,leisure and life skills development due to the nature and breadth of their impairments.
This means they miss essential experiences their non-disabled peers take for granted. Thomley has developed the skills, experience and expertise in providing a wide range of active and creative recreational activities that support the development of social skills,confidence and physical/emotional well-being.

How you can help?
Examples of how Thomley make use of your donation

£10 will fund a full day’s visit by a family to Thomley

£25 will fund replacement tyres for our bikes and go-karts so we can keep them on the road!

£50 will fund 1 playworker for the day so we can provide a wide range of physical and creative activities.

£100 will fund 10 people attending a camping weekend at Thomley.

£250 will fund a drumming, woodworking or sports activity for our disabled visitors

£500 will fund a disco/live music or theatre event here at Thomley

£1,000 will fund the running of our youth club for 1 month

£2,500 will fund the purchase and installation of 5 sun sails to allow us to provide a sun shield and deliver outdoor activities during inclement weather.

So the bike ride through the Italian countryside, mountains and hordes from Rome to Pompeii will be a challenge and the Thomley support I’m hoping to raise will keep the wind behind and the sun shining.

I’m slightly worried about Ronnie who in the last few weeks has morphed into Lurcio, a character from Up Pompeii, if you don’t get the reference, celebrate! It means you’re young and I wish you were coming…

Otherwise any donation you can give I will match and be massively appreciative of.

Also if you know anyone who can benefit please share this.
The important thing here is Thomley.

Much appreciated and thank you
Karl