64 mile cycle ride to raise money for hospital ward in memory of former patient
Husband and wife Ian and Pat Jenkins are linking up with four friends for a cross country cycle ride in a bid to raise money for a hospital ward which cared for a loved one up to his final days.
The couple are planning to leave their home in Mildenhall, just after 7am on Saturday, August 7, along with Tracy Canham, Dean Whitehead, Dave Allen and Rob Foord and cycle the 64 miles to Southwold.
And with just over £800 already raised for their challenge Ian is hoping to reach £1,000 to hand over to the My WiSH Charity with the money directed towards the Macmillan Unit at the West Suffolk Hospital.
The group are being supported by a back up team of Shelby Foord, Davey Friedlander, Joy Bentley and Christine Burton, while Ruth Hounsome, who had an accident coming off her bike, is hoping she will be fit enough to do the distance on the same day on her exercise bike.
Ian, who is a purchasing manager with an engineering firm in Spalding, Lincolnshire, said the cycle ride is in memory of his father Len who was treated by the team at the Macmillan Unit, after he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in 2019.
He had regular treatment at the hospital, but died in the unit on New Year’s Day after contracting sepsis and Covid aged 86. He lived in Red Lodge with his 81-year-old wife June and celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary last year.
Ian, 57, said: “My father was always complimentary of the level of care and the staff at the unit and it continued right up until the end. We were unable to get in to say our goodbyes to him because of Covid which was awful and we wanted to give something back.
“I was talking to Dean who was involved with a charity ride to Southwold a while ago and that’s where the idea came from.
“Some of us are not at our fittest, but we are looking forward to the challenge and having some fun on the day as we have looked at the route and found a nice few ‘watering holes’ to use.”
And he added that they initially set a target of raising £500 but said that it would be “nice” to reach £1,000.
His 56-year-old wife, who works part time at McDonalds, in Barton Mills, added: “A lot of our friends are riding with us and you sometimes have to push yourself in life and we will be.”
Sally Daniels, fundraising manager, met Ian, Pat and their team and said “It’s been such a tough year for so many, losing someone is always hard but adding in the restrictions from Covid just made it so much harder. To turn this into something so positive is just amazing and we can’t thank Ian for taking on this challenge”.
To support Ian and Pat and the rest of the team go to their Just Giving page at www.justgiving.com/ian-jenkins17
Written by Russell Cook for My WiSH Charity
Main photo: Ian and Pat Jenkins with Tracy Canham, Dean Whitehead, Rob Foord, Shelby Foord, Dave Allen, Davey Friedlander, Christine Burton and Joy Bentley.