A father and son team are celebrating after raising over £10,000 for charity by cycling more than 400 miles from coast to coast while donning fetching pink tutus.

Halesworth GP Richard Kell and his son Jon saddled up in St David’s in Pembrokeshire and spent six days cycling across the country before arriving in Southwold last Friday (19 September 2014).

The duo took on the challenge to raise funds towards a new £714,000 Information and Support Centre (ISC), which aims to bring a full range of holistic services closer to home for people with cancer and other life-limiting illnesses.

They originally set a fundraising target of £5,000, but pledged to ride in pink tutus if they could double that figure – and honoured that promise after reaching £10,000 three days into their journey.

“The ride was exhilarating and an experience, but I couldn’t say that either of us particularly enjoyed it!” said Richard, 59, who has been a local GP for nearly 30 years and is chairman of Halesworth Community Nursing Care Fund, which is spearheading the ISC project.

“I’ve had arthritis of the spine since I was 13, which made the ride extra challenging and meant I had to stop regularly to stretch. But the hardest part was the endless hills we faced every day until we reached Cambridge – they really took it out of us and we both finished the week feeling really washed out.

“We enjoyed some really beautiful scenery along the route, and it was fantastic to be able to share the experience with Jon. I would love to say I was ahead throughout and he was riding in my slipstream, but I did tend to spend most of the journey looking at his back!

“We would like to thank everyone who has sponsored us or helped in other ways, including my wife Barb, her friend Helen Flaxman and Jon’s girlfriend Kate Bennett, who acted as a support team along the route.

“Although it was a real ordeal, it made it all worth it to raise such a staggering amount, every penny of which will go towards this fantastic project to bring essential support closer to home for people with life-limiting illnesses in north east Suffolk and south Norfolk.”

Once complete, the ISC will offer counselling, bereavement support, financial and benefits advice and complementary therapies to around 50,000 local people who currently have to travel up to 30 miles to a major town or city to access services. Richard and Jon’s efforts have taken the total raised towards construction of the building to more than £388,000.

Anyone who would like to sponsor Richard and Jon for the ride can still do so by visiting mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/richardandjon

For more information about the ISC project, or to make a donation, visit www.halesworthhealth.org/information-and-support-centre

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