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Chris’ charity ride in memory of son
A father will cycle the length of the United Kingdom in memory of his son.
Chris Patterson of Laburnum Road in Sandy is raising money for the Duchenne Family Support Group (DFSG) by cycling from Land’s End to John O’Groats.
His son Richard was born in 1986 and diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a muscle wasting condition with no known cure, when he was four years old.
Richard, who attended Samuel Whitbread Upper School, died aged just 20 in 2007.
Throughout his life Richard and his family were supported by DFSG so Chris, 61, wants to help them to assist other families.
He said: “The charity was invaluable. When we first found out about him it was a difficult thing to take. We suddenly got to hear about DFSG. It’s a self help group formed by other families.”
The charity organises holidays and other activities for affected families, which the Pattersons attended on a frequent basis over the years.
Chris’ wife, Ann, became the charity’s secretary, a post that she still holds.
Chris has done some fundraising in the past with a 10km run and by shaking a collection pot but he has never cycled for the charity before.
In fact he did not even own a bike until March and now he is preparing for the popular fundraising journey, which covers almost 1,000 miles.
Chris will cycle alongside his friend, Mike Dean. They will carry their own equipment and find accommodation as they go along, depending on how far they have cycled each day.
Chris said: “We hope to average 70 to 75 miles a day. We will stay in B and B accommodation. We will take phone numbers of local tourist information centre offices on the route and book something up when we are there.
“I’ve raised about £2,700 so far and my target is £5,000.”
You can help Chris to reach his goal by donating at www.justgiving.com/chris-patterson0
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Weather for Biggleswade
Wednesday 22 May 2013
Today
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