Emma Steele and I (Helen Jackson) are cycling from Bristol to Edinburgh to raise funds for Sands the stillbirth and neonatal deaths charity. We are cycling the whole 420 miles, that’s 140 miles per day for 3 consecutive days, from May 17 to May 19 – to say we’re a little scared is an understatement!
Why? I hear you ask: Last year Emma’s old school friend, Zoe, was told her baby had died 3 days before her due date. At the time Emma was lost for words for her close friend and felt compelled to take action to do something – but what? As Zoe had moved to Edinburgh, the bright idea of cycling from Bristol to Edinburgh was borne. Zoe was in labour for over two days before meeting their baby Beatrice. As Beatrice was not coming home with Zoe and her husband Rory, the charity, Sands, made this awful and traumatic experience just a little more bearable. Producing a memories box, including hand and footprints and photographs etc, they also provided much needed emotional support to the devastated pair.
We thought what better way to convey support than to raise these much-needed funds by enduring a journey with no outcome (ie. No baby, no prizes). The only winners will be the charity, so they can support other families at this absolutely devastating time. A mother of 3 myself and keen to support Emma, I’ve joined forces to offer everything I’ve got to ensure Emma succeeds in her aim.
The event itself is in May, however, we are both training up to 5 days a week to be able to try and complete this mammoth ride. Emma took up cycling just one year ago and me only, 2 ½ years ago. So we are not your super-duper experienced cyclists that have enjoyed it all our lives, but rather hobby cyclists who are passionate about raising funds for this amazing charity.
Our target is to raise a breath-taking £10,000. Therefore every £1 that can be raised is another step towards our target, for which we are very, very grateful (donation details for the charity can be found below).
Emma and I are also self-funding this event: that’s the training; the clothes; bicycles; bicycle maintenance; accommodation on the event; the fuel for our support vehicle (which is Emma’s husband and 2yr old son!) and fuel for us, so we’re also looking for sponsorship to help with the costs – please contact either of us through our facebook page (details below). If you have links with companies that make donations or can sponsor us please let us know.
You can donate on the following page https://www.justgiving.com/Helen-Jackson46 or you can donate by text! Text ‘BTRI67’ £amount to ‘70070’
Visit our facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/BeatriceBris2Edin/ for weekly updates on our progress or if you would like to make contact with us.