FROM JOHN O’GROATS TO LANDS END – CHARITY CYCLE CHALLENGE AIMS TO RAISE £2,000 FOR VULNERABLE YOUNG PEOPLE
A cycling enthusiast from Harris Lamb is set to tackle a 950 mile bike-ride to raise funds to support vulnerable young people
Neil Harris of the business’ investment team will join five friends to cycle from John O’Groats to Lands End later this month and has already raised over £1,200 toward a £2,000 target.
The group is raising funds for the Youth Adventure Trust, a charity which helps vulnerable young people aged 11-16 unlock their potential and encourages them to lead positive lives. The Trust’s Youth Adventure Programme, which spans three school years, gives participants the chance to build resilience, develop confidence and learn valuable skills that will last a lifetime.
The Trust helps 360 young people a year develop key skills through outdoor adventure, supporting each person as they build on their personal strengths and enabling them to focus on their abilities and challenge themselves to develop further in the ways which will help them in the long term.
The group, which starts their journey on June 17th, and aims to complete the epic trip by June 30th, have been training hard over the past few months to prepare for the challenge, planning their route and breaking it into daily challenges, with the longest leg of the route being tackled on day one, when they travel the first 82 miles from John O’Groats to Crask.
Neil said: “The last year has obviously put a stop to planning any group activities like this and while we’ve all kept up with our cycling, we were really keen to arrange a challenge that would push us physically while raising awareness of and financially supporting a great cause. We agreed to limit our group to six in the event of restrictions not being completely lifted later this month, and we’re been training hard.
“We’re big believers that the great outdoors and a sense of adventure can have a massive impact on people, which is why we picked the Youth Adventure Trust. It has a proven track record at giving young people the hope, confidence and skills to face the challenges in their daily lives. Many of the vulnerable people the Trust helps face circumstances that can lead to them making poor choices that will affect the rest of their lives and the team dies really important work in helping them to overcome these challenges, make positive decisions, form positive friendships and realise their potential.
“We’re hoping to exceed the £2,000 goal we’ve set ourselves in the coming weeks, and we’re looking forward to the camaraderie the experience will bring. We’re also extremely grateful the dismal weather we were training in throughout May seems to be behind us, and we’re crossing our fingers for blue skies and tail winds to help us on our trip,” he added.
To support Neil and the team, visit his donation page here.