Cycling the Length of Britain for the Next Generation of Nature Champions

Next month, I'll be setting off from Land's End to cycle all the way to John O'Groats.

For many cyclists, LEJOG is the ultimate British ride. I've cycled across parts of Europe, but riding the length of the UK has always felt like unfinished business. Now feels like the time to do it.

Over 12 days I'll ride around 1,000 miles, crossing Cornwall and Devon, through the Midlands and into the Scottish Highlands, carrying my own kit and staying wherever a hot shower and a bed can be found at the end of the day. The route includes more than 14,000 metres of climbing, with the hills of Cornwall and Devon widely regarded as some of the toughest days of the whole journey.

If I'm honest, I'm slightly apprehensive. My last major cycling challenge left me off the bike for three months afterwards, and I'm not entirely certain I'll be able to walk normally when this one is over.

So why do it?

Because I'm raising money for the Weald to Waves 100 Mile Classroom.

The UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world, with nearly one in six species in Great Britain threatened with extinction. For effective recovery we need to work together at scale.

Weald to Waves is creating a 100-mile + nature recovery corridor across Sussex, connecting landscapes from the High Weald to the Sussex coast so wildlife can move, recover and thrive. Together, farmers, gardeners, businesses, councils and communities are working towards a resilient Sussex.

But this can only go so far. Across the UK, 16% of 18–24-year-olds are unemployed, yet 58% of environmental professionals think there is, or will soon be, a green skills gap. There is an urgent need to provide young people with skills, knowledge and pathways into green careers. With 175 farmers and land manager members and 22,000 hectares of land pledged so far, the corridor is in an excellent position to bridge this gap.

The 100 Mile Classroom initiative matches schools with local nature sites and projects across the corridor so that young people can learn about — and contribute to — the remarkable wildlife and hopeful environmental initiatives taking place on their own doorstep. Its ambition goes beyond awareness. It creates pathways from engagement, to action, to skills, and ultimately to green careers.

I chair the Weald to Waves Advisory Group and am helping establish the new organisation that will take Weald to Waves forward. I've seen first-hand the enthusiasm, imagination and energy that young people bring when they are given the opportunity to experience nature directly.

The most powerful moments are often the simplest: young people rediscovering fun in the great outdoors, awe at the weird and wonderful world of nature, and the sense of achievement that comes with contributing to a big, purposeful project.

In ten years' time, I hope every child in Sussex will have the chance to not only visit the corridor and experience its wildlife for themselves but feel a sense of belonging to it.

As I cycle north, I'll pass through hills, floodplains, forests, cities, wind farms, solar farms and some of Britain's most spectacular landscapes. But the future of nature recovery won't be secured by people like me riding bicycles.

It will be secured by the next generation.

If the cost of a couple of coffees can help connect a child with nature, I'd be enormously grateful for your support.

Together, we can help create the next generation of nature champions.

Thank you.