As some of you may know, in May this year, I have decided to embark on a slightly ridiculous challenge: cycling from Land’s End to John O’Groats, over 1,000 miles, in just 9 days. The reason it’s ridiculous is that before February 2025, the longest outdoor bike ride I’d ever done was a leisurely Lime bike to Waterloo from the office (which, in hindsight, was less of a “ride” and more of a freewheeling panic down a bus lane).

However, I am now swapping city cycling chaos for relentless hills, headwinds and the distinct inevitability of losing all feeling in my legs. And I need your help. Not with the cycling (unless you fancy carrying me up Scotland’s hills), but with some sponsorship.

The reason for this insanity is simple, as many of you know I lost my father at the start of the year and in a moment of madness decided to try and raise some money for St Nicholas Hospice that cared for him during the final days of his life – so here we are….

During the final five days of his life, he was cared for by the incredible team at St Nicholas Hospice in Bury St Edmunds. The compassion and dedication they showed made an incredibly difficult time as comfortable and warm as possible.

We were shocked to learn that it costs around £8 million a year to run the hospice, which works out to roughly £22,000 per day. While the hospice receives some government funding, the majority of its costs are covered by donations and fundraising efforts.

To honour Dad’s memory and support the hospice that cared for him, we’ve set ourselves the very ambitious challenge of raising enough money to “cover the cost” of running the hospice during those five days. This is just one of the many ways we hope to give back to an organisation that provides such invaluable support to families in their time of need.

You can find out more about the work St Nicholas Hospice does and how you can contribute on their website.

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.