In for a penny
Howard Lake | 21 September 2010 | News
‘Chaptain Handlebar’, Matt Hitchen, is embarking on a 140 mile coast to coast cycling fundraiser with a difference on October 28. Matt is a manager at a cocktail bar and is known for his image as a vintage bartender, complete with waxed moustache.
The 24 year old from Gateshead will attempt to ride the route the old fashioned way, on a penny farthing, to raise funds for national charity The Sick Children’s Trust. Matt’s penny farthing has been generously supplied by iwantoneofthose.com.
The Sick Children’s Trust, which provides high quality ‘Home from Home’ accommodation for families whose children are receiving hospital treatment for serious illness, helped Matt’s family stay close to his cousin, Jamie Green. Jamie was being treated for several weeks at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary late last year for ornithine carbamoyl transferase deficiency. This is a rare, life threatening, metabolic disorder he had struggled with all his life.
Matt said: ”As my family lives in Cumbria it would have put real stress on them to travel back and forth every day to visit Jamie. The Sick Children’s Trust allowed us to stay close by at their ‘Home from Home’, Crawford House, and concentrate on what was really important – being there for Jamie.
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“Jamie passed away last December, aged just 21, and I wanted to do something to remember him by as well as give back to the charity for all their support during a really hard time. He had a brilliant sense of humour so I know he would have loved the idea of this challenge!”
Matt has started training for the challenge by riding his penny farthing from Gateshead to work in Newcastle most days and is slowly getting ready to take on the route. His ride starts in Whitehaven in Cumbria on October 28 and will finish three days later in Tynemouth. He is using the Hadrian’s Cycleway, rather than the more usual route, in recognition of Jamie’s love of the Roman Wall and its forts.
Lydia Solomon, community fundraiser at The Sick Children’s Trust said: “Matt and his family have been through such an awful time of it over the last year with losing Jamie and I am just glad we were there to support him and his family when they needed it most. It’s great to see him embrace fundraising for our charity in such a fun and unique way. As far as I know this has never been tried before but, hopefully, it will start a trend in fundraising! I wish him the best of luck for his challenge.”
To support Matt please go to www.inforapenny.org.uk
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.