Three teenagers will celebrate the end of their exams this year by cycling the length of Holland to raise money for St Richard’s Hospice.
Ed Cullinane, aged 17 from Moreton-in-Marsh, who attends Sixth Form at Cotswold School, will be joined by his brother Harry Cullinane, aged 16, and cousin Will Chilton-Murphy, also aged 16, as they cycle over 370 miles in five days.
The three students are no strangers to physical challenges, having completed a number of long distance cycle rides and walks in support of St Richard’s Hospice. To date they have raised over £4,000 for the charity in memory of their grandmother, Diana Jones, who was cared for by the hospice before her death in 2011.
On 2nd July this year, the intrepid fundraisers will set off on a 600 kilometre (372 mile) cycle ride along the North Sea coast of Holland. The challenge is expected to take five days, averaging around 72.4 miles of cycling per day which will be about five to seven hours of cycling each day.
The boys hope to raise £2,000 in sponsorship to help St Richard’s Hospice continue to care for patients with life-threatening illnesses and support their loved ones.
In 2012 Ed and Will, together with other family members, cycled 180 miles between Bristol and Westminster. In 2014 the three boys walked 63 miles along the Cotswold way.
Harry Cullinane said: “Our beloved grandma had cancer and was very well looked after when she was in St Richard’s. The staff and people at the hospice were amazing. They gave Diana and all of her family brilliant support at the time that we all needed it. This cycle ride will be the hardest challenge we have ever taken on but St Richard’s is a charity that is very close to our hearts. We all get on so well so we are confident that we will pull together through the tough parts of the ride.”
To donate to the team’s ‘Cyclus voor Diana’ fund visit www.justgiving.com/CyclusVoorDiana
To follow the team’s progress on social media, visit www.facebook.com/CyclusVoorDiana