A keen cyclist who completed the Prudential Ride 100 last weekend is due to take on another 100 mile cycling challenge in September to fundraise for The Sick Children’s Trust charity and ‘Let’s talk about William’.
Chris Shirley, 42, from Milton Keynes, completed the Prudential Ride London-Surrey cycle challenge on Sunday 30 July, and is due to participate in the Velo Birmingham in September. He is raising money for The Sick Children’s Trust to say thank you for providing his friends with free ‘Home from Home’ accommodation whilst their son Joshua was seriously ill in hospital.
When Joshua was eight months old, he was diagnosed with a heart defect and required lifesaving treatment at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH). Joshua spent over six months in the specialist hospital over 30 miles away from home. But during this time, parents Catherine and Matt were never more than a few minutes away from their son’s hospital bedside as they were being supported with free ‘Home from Home’ accommodation at the charity’s Guilford Street and Rainbow Houses.
Five years on, Joshua is thriving and family friend Chris wants to help the charity to continue supporting families with seriously ill children in hospitals across the UK. Sunday’s race was the first time the novice cyclist had taken on a 100 mile cycle challenge on a route which took cyclists past London’s famous sights.
