Woman raises £2,500 for charity after 587km cycle in Richmond Park

By The Editor

13th Sep 2020 | Local News

For most mere mortals a lap of Richmond Park is a sufficient day's exercise. Not Alice McWilliam.

In a charity challenge she rode for a staggering 587km in 24 hours last weekend.

Alice, who works for sports tech business Sportskred, was raising money for Sporting Minds UK which promotes positive mental health in young athletes.

She said on her fundraising page: "A lot of friends compete in high performance sport and I very much know from personal experience, friends and in the job that I do, sport is not just a physical battle, it is a mental battle too.

"And what with Covid-19 and the lack of structure, training, competition and seeing friends - a lot of young athletes have come unstuck, so we need to be able to help these up-and-coming talent by supporting them to develop greater mental strength, as much as their physical strength.

"They are a relatively young charity, less than a year old, and it's coming up to their first anniversary on November 26 so they need to raise as much money as possible to continue the incredible work that they are doing - providing a further 100 young sportspeople with much needed specialist mental health support."

Alice has certainly helped with that fundraising drive. Her exploits have been rewarded with donations of nearly £2,500 (and counting).

After the epic ride, she posted on Instagram: "Thank you very much to everybody who has supported me in some way - whether that was riding with me, donating, providing snakz and coffee, or just words of encouragement.

"I have been incredibly overwhelmed and feel so incredibly lucky to have had such wonderful support. You guys are awesome.

"Without a doubt… my jaw and face aches more than my legs, simply because of the all smiles, laughter and chat everybody brought just a little bit sleepy now."

If you would like to contribute to her fundraiser, you can do so here.