SANDS Lothians is a fantastic local charity that provide compassionate support for families following the death of a baby through befriending, group support and counselling.

The charity came into our life after the loss of our son, Hunter, during the mid-term of pregnancy in 2013.  Losing a child at any stage is not something anybody is prepared for and the support they provided to my wife and I was an immense help at a confusing and difficult time. That support continued following the mid-term losses of our daughters Esmae and Freya in March and October 2015 as well as following two early miscarriages and during my wife's pregnancy with Iris, who thankfully is with us today.

Riding my bike both on my own and with friends helped me through many hard times over the last few years and I'd like to use my passion for cycling to help raise awareness of SANDS Lothians' work as well as some money so that other families, like ours, can receive similar support in the future. (For example, every £40 raised can pay for a specialist counselling session for bereaved parents like us.)

So... I've set myself a challenge this Spring!  Starting in Lauder at 2pm on Friday 26th of April and finishing at Inverness Castle by 2pm on Monday 29th of April I'm aiming to complete four challenging rides in 72 hours. Two rides will be in the Scottish Borders and two in the Highlands. In total I plan to cover 300 miles and will be taking part in two sportive events - the "world famous" Tour de Lauder and the Etape Loch Ness, as well as doing two solo rides.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.  I plan to post regular updates and I'm hoping to blog each week about how my training is going.

Chris

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