We're nearly off!

Leaving London

At dawn on Saturday 2 June, the Queen will be celebrating her Jubilee and part of our little family will be heading off from London to cycle the first leg of a marathon ride to Paris. The whole trip was the brainchild of Sam, my 14-year-old, whose school is raising money for Street Child Sierra Leone. Sam has been so moved by what he has learnt at school about the situation some children face in the world's poorest country he wanted to do something. He wanted to do something really big.

When he came up with this idea, although fit, the furthest Sam had cycled was Sainsbury’s, but even so his father and I made a pact with him: if he could stick to the training and demonstrate that he could actually do the long rides, we would support him. I’m not sure what I expected to happen next, perhaps nothing, but Sam has remained steadfast. He has kept to his training schedule riding up to 70 miles a day with his Dad to places like Windsor and Henley and doing school work, studying for his exams and practising his instruments for upcoming music exams.

Sam is an extraordinary young man. He is loyal, passionate and absolutly determined, to the point of madness sometimes. Or should that be maddening? I don't know if he can do this but I do know he will give his all trying.

So the trip is on even though hubbie and I have been accused of irresonsibility by a number of people for allowing this. Chris is going to do the ride with him (ouch) and Katie and I are bringing up the rear in the family car with spare tyres, sugary drinks and sterile bandages. Plasters 'r' us.

We will also be tweeting the trip and Sam has one of those helmet cameras so I will try to post some footage up on my blog as we go. The plan is to do the ride in four stages, the first being to Brighton on Saturday. We will then be taking the ferry and off to French France.

So as all this is being done for kids in Sierra Leone and as Sam’s school St James wants to give the charity enough money to build a school out there, which is £30k of which they are £4k short, please give. We are half way to our target so any and all contributions are going to be so welcome. I will try to tweet thanks to all those that give those kids a few quid, posting a rousing message for Sam on his Just Giving page as he goes along would be great too!

The link to Sam's Just Giving page, written and designed by him is here.

My Sam and the children of Sierra Leone need your help

My 14-year-old son Sam is training hard to cycle the 220 miles from London to Paris in aid of Street Child Sierra Leone in three weeks, and he needs your support. To sponsor him and his Dad, who is going to do it with him, just go to Sam Ogden-Newton's page on JustGiving.

Chris (front) with (l to r) Joe, our
friend Nick and Sam, off for a ride

Sam's school, St James in Ashford, has been fund-raising for Street Child, which gives a better future to children living on the streets of the world's poorest country.

When Sam was asked to think about what he'd like to do to help, he had been really moved by the stories of the precarious lives of these children, so different from his own, so he decided to really challenge himself and try to make a difference.

His father Chris and I want the children to be ambitious and if they feel able to, to push themselves. So even though Sam is only just 14 and many people think we are mad, we have agreed to this personal challenge as long as his Dad cycles with him and I can bring up the rear in the back-up vehicle, otherwise known as the family car, with puncture kits etc. on board. 

We have only just sorted out the dates for the journey to fit around Sam's school schedule; so he will be setting off on Saturday 3 June. That leaves just three weeks to train with the added complications of a mildly fractured hand (rugby at the weekend) and out-of-shape Chris (note snuggly fitting yellow cycle jacket above). 

Still it's all to play for and the boys are trying to fit 35 miles in each day between now and push-off. Go on, it's a great cause and Sam is a great kid with a big heart and the courage to really help others, even those he has not met.

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