About
I was invited to visit Charlton Farm, CHSW’s hospice near Bristol shortly before it opened in 2007. It made quite an impression on me and as a father of two young healthy children I was inevitably reminded how fortunate most of us are.
Since then I had been keen to help CHSW in any way I could so in 2009 the Ride for Precious Lives was born to link up the site of the planned new hospice in St Austell with the existing ones near Barnstaple and Bristol.
The ride pretty much follows Sustrans route 3 from St Austell to Bristol via Bideford and Taunton. It is a mixture of very quiet roads and traffic free cycle paths, with only a tiny amount of busier roads. We have hotels booked in Bideford and Taunton and lots of support along the way so while the ride will be a challenge it is aimed at being memorable for all the right reasons. See the ride page for all the detail.
We are hoping to raise as much money as possible and keep our costs to an absolute minimum. Actually cost free is the plan but that doesn’t mean you won’t be well looked after! We want to donate 100% of all the money raised by the riders to CHSW to help fund their annual costs of £6million (of which only 9% comes from the Government! and this is only guaranteed until 2010) as well as contribute towards the £5million needed to build a third hospice. So there’s a £100 registration fee that will cover at least your dinner, bed and breakfast in Bideford and Taunton and some fuel along the way!
We also want you to raise as much as possible with a suggested minimum donation of £500 each so that we can be sure we are raising a worthwhile amount. In 2009 we raised over £50,000 and with 100 places available this year £100,000 sounds like a good target to beat!
*If you can think of any other way you or your company could help then please get in touch.*
On the Riders page you will find a list of everyone who is already signed up and a link to their CHSW donation page that shows how well they are doing with sponsorship and that’s where you can sponsor them too.
On the Tips page you can get some useful thoughts from the experts on bike set up, training and medical matters. . Chris Jarvis, the Medical Officer for the British Cycling Team, is hopefully going to be with us again so we are in good hands!
To find about more about the hospices click on CHSW. To find out even more you can click on the link to their website.
You’ll find the entry form on this link. Please read it carefully and I look forward to seeing you in July.
The Hospices
At Children’s Hospice South West we help and support children and their families who are living with life limiting or life threatening conditions. We are the only organisation in the South West to provide vital hospice care to these families.
There are over 1000 children who could benefit from our care, yet we are only able to provide space for up to 400 families. Of these, some come to us for palliative care, some for emergency care and many for planned respite and a rare opportunity for a break away.
But there’s more to it than that. We provide a loving and caring place for every member of the families who stay with us. A place where everyone can begin to forget their worries for a while, be a family again and find expert help and support in facing an uncertain future.
Our hospices are often filled with joy and laughter. Of course there is no mistaking the serious work we do, but the atmosphere of the hospice isn’t what you might imagine.
We do everything we can to help make the most of every moment a very sick child has with us and with their family. And that includes giving them one to one specialist care, having fun times through play, music, outings and crafts – simple pleasures that many of us take for granted.
Parents, who often struggle to cope with their child’s illness, find some relief from their responsibilities of care at our hospices. They can relax, be themselves and do what any parent wants to do – be a parent again.
Brothers and sisters, who might be feeling isolated, scared or confused, have a chance to play together, share some special times and have a little fun too.
We need your support to continue this vital work. Every penny – and every smile – you help us to raise makes a big difference to the children and families who need our services. So please help us – in any way you can.
Take a look at the some of the family stories on www.chsw.org.uk to get a first hand impression of what a difference the Children’s Hospice South West makes to the people who really need it.
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