North Northumberland Sponsored Cycle - February 2020

I set off at 7.30 am and stopped off at Adam Ferry’s house for a cup of tea. It was cold and foggy as I made good progress up through Embleton and onto Seahouses. The sun broke through as I reached Bamburgh and turned inland past Budle Bay and onto Belford. I was still heading north as I followed a lovely country road to Fenwick and onto Lowick. This was where I turned south and it got a bit windy. My legs were sore as I battled the wind down to Wooler. I was struggling as I rested in the sun for half an hour. The next stage was on Cycle Route 68 down to Ingram and the Breamish River. In parts the track was rough, muddy and I had to cross several streams. I sat by one deep stream for about five minutes thinking I would need to get wet but then noticed a footbridge. I crossed fields full of sheep which ran as they saw me approach. At one junction two identical signs pointed in two directions so I had to make an educated guess.

I lost my flags as they got caught on a barbed wire fence as I crossed a muddy field. Officially I was having a second wind as I reached Ingram and crossed the river. There was about three hours more daylight so I headed for Alnham and Netherton. At a junction I decided not to go to Alwinton but take a short cut to Rothbury. By 5 pm I was sitting in the Turk’s Head pub with a pint of Sanctuary. My thighs were burning and I was a bit light headed. Cath and Joe came to pick me up. I had managed 70 miles today in about nine hours cycling. It had been beautiful but tough.

At 8 am the next morning I met George, John and Cameron near the Oaks pub. They were off and I would meet them near Rothbury. Cath dropped me back at the place where I had finished yesterday. It was a sunny morning and the road followed the Coquet River to Weldon Bridge.

I was going well as I passed the boys and we had a quick chat. They had made good progress and had been going two hours when we met and had covered 20 miles already. My hand drawn map wasn’t much good as I must have missed the correct turn and ended up in Longhorsley. I pushed the bike up a very long hill on the A697 with cars speeding passing me as I jumped onto the grass verge. When I reached the A1 I was a bit confused but was only about a mile from the junction to Amble that I wanted. It got a bit windy again but the hedges lining the road were tall enough to shield me from the worst of it. The road went through Acklington and I was soon in Amble. The wind died down and I made use of the cycle tracks all the way to Hipsburn and back to Alnwick. I had cycled 100 miles in amazing weather. George, John and Cameron were due back at 6 pm and I agreed to meet them at the Shoes. The last bit down from Seahouses they said had been very windy and they looked tired. John had fallen off earlier in the day but everyone was back safe. George had raised about £90.    

On the Sunday evening after the weekend cycle we all met in the Horse Shoes. I spoke about the project and got a few more sponsors. The raffle was drawn with Joe throwing a dart. This is officially the end of the serious fundraising. At this point in February I have just over £1700 in the bank with a further £500 coming from FOMA. I had already bought 30 footballs and printed the Chitipa Utd shirts. It would be more than enough.  

The cycle raised £1600. 

'7086 Minutes of Exercise' Challenge - 2021

In mid August the challenge ended. My facebook page was full of 32 weeks of activities for all the see. I was proud of my efforts and hoped it would raise some money. In the end by October we had about £1000 raised ahead of 2022. 

 'Cricket and Cycling' Challenge 2022 

I play cricket for Rock CC in Northumberland and Tyneside Division 5 North. The season starts on April 16th. 

The Challenge = the total number of runs I score between April 16th and July 30th in 16 games is the total distance in Kilometres I will cycle. People supported my challenge and I raised £885 by selling 150 squares for £5 each and selling some donated England tracksuits that I had been given by the English FA.  The money raised would send all the donated kit to Chitipa by the end of 2022. I received another £221 via Gift Aid. I worked out that it was going to cost about £1100 to get the kit to Chitipa, so we just about had enough.   

'Cricket, Cycling and Running Challenges' - 2024 

The 1st Fund Raiser raised £1250 by March to cover the costs of sending sports equipment to Chitipa, Northern Malawi later in the year. 

The 2nd Fund Raiser - Raised £750 to cover the costs of organising 4 sports training coaches in Chitipa to be delivered by Malawi National Coaches. The Challenge was to score 600 Runs before £600 is raised.  In the end Andy managed 420 runs but lost out to your generosity. 

Total Raised - £2000 (£1600 + £400 Gift Aid)

52 Weekends of Cycling Challenge - 2025/2026

It started on September 21st 2025 and would finish on September 20th 2026. I will cycle at least 50 km's a weekend. The target is 2500 km's cycled and £3000 raised.