Dave and I are neighbours in the little village of Wonston near Winchester.

On 31^stJuly we will be among the thousands taking part in the Prudential Ride London-Surrey bike ride cycling 100 miles including the infamous Leith and Box hills along the way. Although we love our bikes, we are complete amateurs and this is the biggest challenge either of us have ever tackled!

I head up the fundraising team at Thrive, the national gardening therapy charity that helps over 800 people every year who are living with a disability, physical or mental health issues or recovering from illness or bereavement.  

Our youngest client gardener is 14 yrs old and our oldest has just turned 93 - it’s good for everybody and with a trained Horticultural Therapy team on side it can offer qualifications, work, improved strength, friendships, recovery from illness, tranquillity of mind and purpose.

I signed up - excited but a bit terrified about doing it alone. When Dave heard that I was doing this ride for Thrive, he decided that he’d like to take part too.  As a professional gardener for almost 40 years, he is a great believer in the healing and therapeutic powers that the garden can bring and feels that this is such a worthy cause to support.

So, we’re ready to put our best pedal forward to raise as much as we can, with your help.  Thank you for supporting us - knowing you are all willing us on to succeed to raise our target of £3,000 means everything!