A Cornish paramedic is raising money for a children’s cancer charity after witnessing the 'horrendous' challenges patients and their families have to deal with.
He is now taking on a 100-mile cycling event this May in London.
Ashley Stidwell, 34, lives in Helston with his wife Hilary and two-year-old son Noah.
Born in Porthleven, Ashley attended Porthleven Primary School, Helston Community College and then on to Plymouth University where he trained to become a paramedic and now works with the South Western Ambulance Service.
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Over the past eight months, Ashley has become a keen cycler and cycles long distances in locations across Cornwall. With his new love for cycling, Ashley decided to sign up for a cycling event, otherwise known as a ‘sportive’ and chose RideLondon.
The sportive is Britain’s biggest celebration of cycling and this year marks its tenth anniversary. The 100-mile route will start in central London and then into Essex before crossing the finish line at Tower Bridge on May 28.
Ashley decided he wanted to raise some money along the way, and after seeing the difficulties children and their families face during cancer treatment, he set up a JustGiving page for donations to the charity Children With Cancer UK.
“Whilst I, fortunately, haven’t been directly affected by this, the nature of my work has shown me the horrendous challenge these poor children and their families face whilst battling cancer,” Ashley said.
The JustGiving page has already received donations of £250 with the target being set at £500. You can donate here: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Ash-Stidwell100mileride
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Children With Cancer UK is a charity that supports children and their families before, during and after treatment.
In the last 35 years, they have spent £ 10 million on family accommodation, £3 million on financial support grants, £2.5 million on medical equipment and £3 million on support services.
The vision of the charity is for every single child across the world to be able to ring the end of treatment bell which is put in place at hospitals across the UK for children and adults to ring after treatment ends.
For more information on Children With Cancer UK, visit: https://www.childrenwithcancer.org.uk/
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