Super cyclist Mo Maynard cycled all around London for 12 hours straight overnight, from 8pm yesterday evening (Thursday) until 8am this morning (Friday), to raise awareness for homeless young people who often go nights without sleep as they have nowhere safe to rest their head.
Mo was taking part in Centrepoint’s virtual fundraising event STAY:UP and raising money for the homeless young people Centrepoint supports. The mass participation event STAY:UP replaced the charity’s long-running annual Sleep Out and asked participants to go one night without sleep to raise awareness for homeless young people who are often forced to go without sleep, and find themselves sitting on night buses, finding refuge in 24 hour McDonalds and having to keep one eye open on the streets.
Not only challenging herself physically, Mo also challenged herself mentally as she designed her GPS route in the shape of a cyclist on a bike. Despite the added pressure of destroying her creatively planned route, she succeeded in the task and had created her image by the end of the 12 hours. Mo travelled a total of 160km and raised more than £1,500 to tackle youth homelessness. Pictures attached showing Mo’s route and her journey.
Commenting on her fundraising campaign, Mo Maynard, super cyclist, said:
“I found it really tough! What surprised me most was the mental challenge. It was almost impossible to keep alert when I was so cold and tired. I had the luxury of warm clothes and food during the night which helped me keep going, but it made me think of those who don’t have these necessities to rely on.
“Even before the coronavirus pandemic I started thinking about how less people are carrying cash so if someone on the streets needs help, they are less likely to be able to give them anything. Now with the pandemic, I noticed that homelessness is on the rise. We’re really lucky to have charities like Centrepoint to provide a safety net for vulnerable people.”
Centrepoint estimates that 110,000 young people in the UK were homeless, or at risk of homelessness, in 2018/19. Now, in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, Centrepoint has already seen the number of people calling their Helpline who are sleeping rough double.
Centrepoint runs hostels across the UK supporting homeless young people into a job and a home. The money Jenny raises will go directly towards safe accommodation, education and training programmes and physical and mental health support for vulnerable young people.
STAY:UP took place last night from 8pm (Thursday 8th October), until this morning at 8am (Friday 9th October) on Centrepoint’s Instagram (@CentrepointUK) and featured actress Lisa Maxwell and a live performance and Q&A by The Vamps. For highlights of the night visit Centrepoint’s Instagram and Mo’s Instagram (@momaynard).
