Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

THE PURPOSE

I am raising funds to help cover the expenses associated with attending the World Transplant Games to be held in Perth, Australia in 2023 for the estimated 10-15 transplant recipient cyclists who will shortly be selected to represent Team GB&NI.

Monies raised will be used to cover the cost of our cyclothon team entry with any excess being used to assist selected Team GB&NI cyclists attend the games.  The reclaimed gift aid portion plus any other surplus funds will go towards the Transplant Sport UK Management Team (including physios and coaches) who give up their time to support the whole GB&NI team.

Team GB&NI

April 2023 will see a team of cyclists, all of whom have had life-saving organ transplants, head off to Perth, Australia to represent Great Britain & Northern Ireland in the World Transplant Games.

The team of women and men between the ages of 18 and 75 will compete in time trial, team time trial and road race, having received either heart, liver, kidney or bone marrow transplants, and are only alive and racing because of the Gift of Life.

The team continue to work really hard getting stuck into their events on the road and track to build form and fitness for the World Games, balancing anti-rejection drugs with a rigorous training programme through the winter to come, bearing in mind COVID as they are all clinically extremely vulnerable due to being immunosuppressed.

The team riders are based all over the UK from Essex to Scotland and over to Northern Ireland, all entirely self-funded, needing over £3,000 each just to get to Perth and compete against other international teams with life-saving transplants. Funding is always an issue which has prevented some from competing on the international stage - your support will really help the team individuals get there to compete, demonstrating the difference that a Transplant has made.

THE EVENT

We have a team of 8 riders (including a live kidney donor and 5 potential GB&NI Team athletes who are organ transplant recipients) who will be taking part in a gruelling 12 hour endurance cycle relay race around the undulating 3.8km Brands Hatch GP circuit. 

http://vultd.co.uk/event/cyclothon-brands-hatch-2022

https://strava.app.link/Hr206JArWsb

We expect to complete well over 100 laps in the 12 hours (meaning a total of over 400km with more than 50km of riding for each team member).

THE LSEG MATCHING

Phil Penhaligan works for the London Stock Exchange Group who will very kindly match any donations made to this cause, so any donation made will be doubled!

JUSTGIVING

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.

If you are a UK basic rate tax payer or higher please remember to select the 'gift aid' option as this will automatically boost your donation by 25% by reclaiming basic rate tax from HMRC on your behalf (Note that under HMRC rules, this reclaimed gift aid portion will only be used directly by the charity).

THE CYCLOTHON TEAM

Rider 1, Phil Penhaligan, LSEG employee for over 12 years working in Equity Capital Markets Technology and keen amateur cyclist, first discovered the charity Transplant Sport UK in 2010 when his son George (then aged 6) received a kidney transplant using a kidney donated by himself. George became ill aged 4 in 2008 with Meningococcal Sepsis which irreparably damaged both his kidneys and was on dialysis for over a year before the transplant. Phil & George have attended the British Transplant Games every year since, including the year of the transplant itself, and in 2019 both attended their first World Transplant Games (held in Newcastle UK) due to George having been selected for Team GB&NI as swimmer and cyclist. George is hopeful to be again selected for the 2023 World's team following his medal-winning performances at the recent 2022 British Transplant Games in Leeds.

Rider 2, Matthew Rozee is a former LSEG employee now working for UBS in their Equity Operations team who is a keen amateur cyclist who also does crazy things like ultra marathons in the desert!

[ Both Phil and Matthew are currently in training for a Geneva to Zurich “Swiss giants” 4 day cycling challenge taking place in late September and including a number of iconic Swiss alpine climbs such as the Furka Pass, Nuefenen Pass and the St Gottard Pass!!! A grand total of over 10,000 Metres of climbing... Oh crikey. ]

Rider 3, Mark Sturtevant, LSEG employee of nearly 20 years working within the Capital Markets technology team. Amateur cyclist who over the last year has taken on some of the UK’s toughest sportives and recently ventured further afield to conquer the famous cols in Mallorca.

Rider 4, Steve Donaldson had a heart transplant in 2010 at Golden Jubilee Hospital in Clydebank. Returning to cycling post-transplant he has won medals at British, European and world level for the UK Transplant Cycling Team. He also has won medals at British Cycling Masters Track cycling. He was told by his late wife “Just go out and enjoy life , ride your bike and have fun.” And for once in his life , he’s doing just what he was told to do!

Rider 5, Michael York was diagnosed with kidney failure at the age of 28 due to having small kidneys from birth. He was on dialysis for 6 years but was lucky enough to have dialysis at home through the night. He received a kidney on a paired exchange program in 2014. This worked by his dad donating his kidney and him gaining a kidney from a 28 year old living donor. Since his transplant he has participated in a number of challenges including cycling from Munich to Northampton which was just over 1,000 miles in 2 weeks. Over £30,000 was raised on that trip for the Northampton renal ward. Raising awareness along with giving something back is extremely important to him.

Rider 6, Sean Rintoul had a kidney transplant in 2014 after which he took up cycling and got the cycling bug. He has competed at the British Transplant Games each year since (and has won the Time Trial and Road Race for his age category several times) . He has also represented GB&NI at the world transplant games in the TT, Team TT and Road Race picking up silver medals in the individual time trials and team time trials.

Rider 7, William Black has been riding bikes since he was 3 years old, varying from local down hill mountain bike rides with friends, to racing for his country on road bikes. He had a bone marrow transplant in 2009 and is currently a member of the GB&NI Team and has won a variety of medals in British and European transplant games. William has been competing since 2015 with Team Anthony Nolan, where he won his first silver medal. In 2020 as the world came to a stop, the transplant cyclists from around the world raced using Zwift having created a virtual Tour de France. William placed 2nd in the overall general classification, of the 16 transplant riders who took part. William most recently won silver representing GB&NI in the 2022 European Transplant & Dialysis Games in Oxford.

Rider 8, Michael Oliver works as a retail analyst for the research firm Mintel. In the 1980s, he was a professional cyclist and raced against riders like Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche and Laurent Fignon. He returned to cycling to lose weight after being diagnosed with the hereditary condition polycystic kidney disease in his mid-40s. He had a kidney transplant in 2015 and started cycle training again soon after, going on to represent Team GB&NI at the 2017 World Transplant Games. Michael most recently won double Bronze in the 2022 European Transplant & Dialysis Games in Oxford for Time Trial and Road Race.