This weekend sees the start of an epic 1,000-mile charity bike ride through six countries over eight days and it has turned out to be a real family affair.
A team representing The Chapel hairdressing salon in Tunbridge Wells is hoping to raise more than £50,000 for the Pickering Cancer Drop-in Centre and Cancer Research UK.
Among those taking part in the ride are salon co-founders Toby and Amanda Dicker and their son Bert (8).
Starting out on Saturday, Toby and his team will be cycling all the way back to the UK from Verbier in Switzerland through France, Germany Luxembourg and Belgium.
“Amanda is joining us in Brussels for three days of cycling and Bert will be joining us in Sevenoaks,” explained Toby. “For each of us it will be the hardest and most gruelling challenge of our lives.”
Amanda said: “It’s not just the exercise of raising money that has been so inspiring, but the love and kindness of the community coming together and supporting our cause.”
The charity ride, called Cycle 4 Cancer – 4 Chapel Challenge, comes after five staff at the salon were diagnosed with cancer in the past couple of years. Three of them, aged between 26 and 34, passed away.
Toby explained: “Before she passed away I told one of my colleagues, Natasha Douglas, who had been diagnosed with breast cancer, that we wanted to do something special in terms of fundraising and I thought that doing this ride would be the least I could do.”
If you would like to support Toby and his team go to www.c4c4cc.co.uk
