Five cyclists to complete Coast to Coast challenge for Katy Holmes Trust

Five cycling enthusiasts from Rochdale and Preston have teamed together to complete the Coast to Coast challenge this May and are hoping to raise as much money as possible for their chosen charity – The Katy Holmes Trust.

Richard Carroll, from Preston, originally from Rochdale, together with his friends Andy Sutton, Bob Wardell, Nick and Jill Barton from the Norden and Bamford areas of Rochdale, intend to cycle from Workington in West Cumbria across to the East Coast in Sunderland at Rocker Lighthouse. They will be covering 136 miles and some of the most dramatic scenery in England including the Yorkshire Dales and the North Yorkshire Moors.

No strangers to big challenges, they have all previously cycled from London to Paris. Richard and Bob have climbed the Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps, Jill is an ultra-marathon runner and Moors Fell Running Ladies Champion and both her and Nick are members of the Harriers Running Club with Nick as chairman, and Andy has completed the Bolton Iron Man competition twice.

The Preston-based charity was set up in 2012 by Paula and David Holmes following the loss of their 10-year-old daughter Katy Holmes to a rare and inoperable brain tumour. Katy’s only symptom was to stop smiling but Paula’s instincts alerted her that something was seriously wrong.

Two weeks later an MRI revealed that Katy had a brain tumour on her brain stem, and only six to nine months left to live.

Katy’s parents worked tirelessly to try to save her life sparking a huge media campaign worldwide but after only three months, Katy sadly died. It was then they discovered that brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under 40 in the UK.

 

 

Research is woefully underfunded with less than 2% of the national cancer research spending being dedicated to this field. The Katy Holmes Trust was set up to fund paediatric brain tumour research and in the first 4 years invested £1.1M.

Richard said: “I came across The Katy Holmes Trust online and was deeply touched by the story. As a father myself I cannot even begin to comprehend the pain that Katy and her family went through.

“Discovering the facts about brain tumours made me want to do something to contribute to research because it could happen to any of us at any time so the least we can do is try to help.”

Not satisfied with completing this challenge in 24 hours, which is a popular timescale for most cyclists, this incredible team have upped the ante and opted to complete the ride within 18 hours.

Richard explained: “I had come across the charity’s #Challenge18 fundraising event online and looked into it further. Katy Holmes should have been celebrating her 18th birthday on 26 May and the charity were asking people to do any kind of challenge that incorporated the number 18 to mark the occasion.

“After chatting with the team, it was decided that we would do the event on Katy’s actual birthday but complete it in 18 hours instead of 24.”

Katy’s mum, Pride of Britain Finalist and winner of the EVA Inspirational Women of the Year Award 2014 said: “When Richard first asked me if they could do this challenge for our charity I was deeply touched by their kindness, especially as they are not all from Preston”

“There is a huge problem out there that is taking the lives of our loved ones but as yet there is still no known cure and treatment methods are very limited due to a lack of medical advances. This is changing though, and it is because of amazing people like these who want to help. We are so very grateful to them for choosing to support us and wish them all the very best on their journey.”

If you would like to sponsor the team you can find their Just Giving page at

www.justgiving.com/c2ckht.

You can also track their progress on the day by checking the charity Facebook page – The Katy Holmes Trust.

You can find out more about the Katy Holmes Trust by visiting their website at:

• www.katyholmestrust.co.uk