Carl Scott

I started cycling during lockdown as the gym was shut. I was eating too many calories and not moving enough on account of having nothing to do! Now I like to get out and ride every day, and have consistently started doing 25 miles each day. It was on one of these journeys that I wondered how far it was from Lands End to John O’Groats. So I looked it up. It’s 839 miles. If I do 25 miles a day, for seven days a week, it’ll take me just under five weeks to do that journey. So that’s what I’m going to do.

Having decided to take on the challenge, I also figured it would be a good idea to try and raise some money for a worthy cause. There are various statistics going around citing the numbers of people who suffered anxiety or depression as a result of this pesky pandemic. I read somewhere that something like 25% of the UK has been affected, but whatever the figure, a lot of people have had their mental, as well as physical health affected. I don’t mind telling you that I’m one of them.

To have my business suddenly taken away from me and be personally placed in solitary confinement had a bigger effect on me than I could have imagined. I am happy to confirm that this was a temporary state and I am now fine. With the gym being closed towards the end of lockdown I started riding my bike again.

I have decided to use this daft idea of mine to raise money for ‘Suffolk Mind’ in order to help people who can’t just do it for themselves, or simply need some help. I consider myself very lucky not to suffer particularly, but we are all on the mental health continuum and we move up and down it depending on how we cope with the challenges of life and the stresses that it creates. Personally, I can look back and say I didn’t dip that far from ‘Wellbeing’, but it was far enough to make a difference to me and I didn’t like it.

As my goal is 839 miles, I figured that would be a good target to aim for on the money raising front. £839 is what I want to raise. I would dearly love it if you would be so kind as to sponsor me, even if it is just a penny a mile as I only need £8.39 from 100 people. Any amount that you sponsor me above this would just be a bonus.

I will of course keep you posted on my progress and I will have some kind of app that will monitor my mileage.

UPDATE…..

I did it! 28 days instead of 35, and in those 28 days managed to hit 209% of my sponsorship target, so I’m over the moon!

It was great fun and very rewarding, with a lot of wet rides, punctures and scraped knees from falls along the way. Thank you so much to everyone who kindly donated