Story
TOWER TO TOWER – LONDON TO PARIS
6th – 8th Aug 2015
“Remembering Joshua Zachary Bolton 4th Sept 2004 – 1st April 2006”
In loving memory of our beautiful son Joshua Zachary Bolton, a group of us are embarking on a 250 mile cycle ride from London to Paris over 3 days to raise money for the charity Climb -Children Living with Inherited Metabolic Diseases (Registered Charity No 1089588). http://climb.org.uk/
Our son Joshua died very suddenly on the 1st April 2006 due to an undiagnosed metabolic condition called MCADD (Medium - Chain Acyl CoA Dehydrogenase Deficiency). This condition is treatable if known about. Unfortunately when Joshua was born, testing for MCADD as part of the Newborn screening was only at the pilot stage with half the country being tested. Joshua was born where this pilot was not carried out.
From the moment we lost Joshua, our lives changed forever & the charity Climb became very close to our hearts due to the support they gave us following the loss of our little boy. They gave us something positive to aim towards, so to help prevent other families suffering the same preventable loss that we had.
Climb have actively campaigned for treatable inherited metabolic diseases to be included in the National Newborn screening test so to prevent unnecessary deaths with early diagnosis. Following the pilot study, MCADD was finally approved by the Government in 2007 & another 4 more conditions have now been approved in January of this year.
Climb is a small charity, compared with the more well-known charities, however the work that they do in supporting over 700 Inherited Metabolic Diseases is unprecedented. Since we lost Joshua, fundraising for Climb has been an integral part of our lives & helps keep his memory alive. Over the years, Pauline & I have been overwhelmed & humbled by the generosity people have shown in supporting us & Climb. http://climb.org.uk/galaxy/Joshua_Zachary_Bolton.pdf
Our aim with the TOWER TO TOWER – LONDON TO PARIS is to raise £10,000 for Climb. The team consists of 9 cyclists – Me (Neil), Richard, Dan, Simon, Paul, Tony, Paul, Sophie & Sam with 4 backup vehicles of family & friends. In addition to these 9 cyclist there will be 6 young cyclists completing part of the journey; these include Joshua’s younger brother and sister, Gabriel (age 8) & Safia (age 7), cousins Emelia (age 7) & Beatrice (age 4) and friends Anna (age 10) & Emily (age 7).
The cyclists are all training very hard & stacking up the training miles for this challenge which will require them to cycle in excess of 80 miles a day over the 3 days. Pauline & I hugely appreciate the amount of commitment, time & effort our cycling friends & their families are showing in taking on this challenge.
If you are able to support the riders with this tough & gruelling cycling challenge, please help by donating to this worthy charity Climb & in keeping Joshua’s memory alive.
We would welcome any support and encouragement anywhere along the route & either at the start or the finish line. We leave from the Tower of London on Thurs 6th Aug and finish at the Eiffel Tower on Sat 8th Aug.
Please follow us on Facebook for up to date information, planned route & tracking of where the riders are along the route over the 3 days.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/780251018687246/
Many thanks for your generosity & support.
Neil & Pauline Bolton
“Perhaps they are not the stars.
But rather openings in the heavens where the love of our lost ones pours through
And shines down upon us to let us know they are happy.”
(Inspired by an Eskimo legend)