Letchworth-based Garden House Hospice Care is encouraging people to get involved in its COVID-secure fundraising event, Pedal for Pounds.

Starting and finishing in Letchworth, there are 30 and 50-mile routes available for all abilities to get involved and enjoy to Herts countryside.

Nick Hilton is a cyclist taking on the challenge with a group of his friends. He tells us why cycling has saved their sanity this lockdown and why the community should join them this October.

“I started cycling about seven years ago as a means of commuting to the office when I lived in London,” Nick said.

“It was a quick, cheap and healthy way of getting to work – anything is better than a packed Victoria Line tube. That 25-minute cycle every morning energised me ready for the day more than a cup of coffee ever could.

“I live in Hitchin now – too far away to cycle in to work, but I like to try and get out on my bike as often as I can.

“A few friends got into cycling too this year, the lockdown has brought us all together. We haven’t been able to enjoy socialising in the same way as before (down the pub…) so to all keep in touch and fight against the dreaded lockdown belly we have been cycling regularly together throughout the summer months.

READ MORE: Appeal to find rickshaw for Stevenage mum with terminal cancer to complete hospice cycle challenge“COVID-19 and the lockdown have had widespread negative effects on society, but we have tried to be positive about the extra time we had on our hands by using it on our bikes.

“Garden House Hospice Care is an organisation that has keenly felt those negative effects from the lockdown. Fundraising ground to a halt and the hospice was faced with a black hole in their budget for 2020. I know first-hand the great work hospices do, having watched my dearly departed nan, Sheila, pass away under the outstanding care of a hospice.”

This is one of the few events the hospice has been able to go ahead with following the coronavirus outbreak, and as a result, has not had the same fundraising amount as usual.

It costs £20 per adult to enter, and £15 for under 16s. To sign up, go to ghhospicecare.org.uk/support-us/events/detail/pedal-for-pound.

To sponsor Nick and his team, go to justgiving.com/fundraising/bbpcc.