Hi!

From the 1st of January I will be cycling the distance from John O'Groats to Land's End on my stationary bike to raise money for Schoolreaders. 

During the first lockdown so many children missed out on education, and since then the Coronavirus pandemic has continued to disrupt their time in the classroom and thousands of children have fallen behind with one of the most vital parts of education; reading. 

Reading well doesn't just mean you can enjoy books, it allows you to understand the rest of the school curriculum, and when you are older it helps you to fill in job application forms, learn to drive and access medical care. Can you imagine trying to navigate the adult world being unable to read all the forms, papers and even the internet? 

I grew up obsessed with words and books, but so many children aren't like me and need some more gentle encouragement. That's where Schoolreaders comes in. Schoolreaders is a charity that finds volunteers to go into schools and listen to primary school children read on a one-to-one basis. This is a proven way to improve a child's reading skills and comprehension. It's simple, but very effective; in 2019 95% of the children who read with a volunteer significantly improved their reading age. 

So why the cycle challenge? Well, thanks to the virus, more children than ever need Schoolreaders' help, meaning more volunteers are needed. To help them recruit more, I'm cycling 1,083 miles on a stationery bike in a bid to raise £500 - this would provide reading support for an entire class of primary school children for a whole year! Please help me achieve this goal by giving whatever you can.

I'll be keeping this page up to date with my progress if you'd like to follow along. Here's hoping my legs don't fall off at the end! 

Thanks

Lesley