Dave Redfern from St Christopher’s London office is taking on a 1,500km cycle challenge to raise money for St Christopher’s 150th birthday appeal. Here is how he has been getting on with his mission so far.

“My challenge is to cycle the distance of London to Zagreb (capital of Croatia) before we Brexit on 31 October. This means cycling 1,500km in three months, travelling through France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Slovenia and finally into Croatia.

As a disclaimer I should point out that although I’m really cycling the distance, I’m not actually going to Zagreb. I’m doing this cycling in the rush hour around London and logging the distance with an app, so I can tot up the km’s over a longer period of time.

I have cycled 462 km so far, which means I just entered Germany and passed through France, Belgium and Luxembourg so am ticking off the countries. I’m a bit knackered and I’ve been hit by one white van (true story), but it didn’t hurt and I didn’t fall off! No punctures yet but the bike is creaking a bit – may need a pit stop.

One of the major benefits is that I have lost a bit of weight. I am always hungry!

The challenge is great fun because it is something that I want to do anyway and is keeping me fit. When it comes to fundraising it is really important do something that you want to do, that you have time to do and that is realistic. The money-raising bit was the most daunting even though I do this as a job! But doing it online, linking it with LinkedIn and emailing some friends meant that I hit the target surprisingly easily. Now, a couple of weeks in, I have raised £180 plus gift aid, so that’s a total of £225.​

Now everyone is asking how I am doing and I can say – better than Brexit.”

If you are inspired by Dave’s experience and would like to fundraise for St Christopher’s 150th birthday, or just want some fundraising tips to get yourself going, please get in touch with our fundraising team today.