Challenge will help fund treatment

Pete Hines, 47, of High Salvington, heard of the story of Lola Stockdale through his nephew, Warren Beadle, who was in the army with the six-year-old’s father, Noel.

She has four limb cerebral palsy, global development delay and cerebral vision problems caused by birth trauma and her parents are trying to raise £50,000 for pioneering stem cell treatment in America.Mr Hines said: “Sometimes you give to charity and you feel like it is a big, generic pool, but with this it felt like a chance to make an immediate difference to this girl and her family.

“We were a mixed group of cyclists and not everyone knew each other before starting this, but this really brought everyone together.”

Fourteen cyclists travelled from Canterbury through France, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany. Mr Hines said he found the challenge, in which the team cycled 500 miles, spanning five countries, in five days, difficult. “I enjoyed it a great deal but it was very hard going in places,” he said. “The hardest part was day three which was the longest in terms of distance at 107 miles and also the hilliest. It was a bit of a panic trying to make it to the campsite before it got dark. I started training back in June and had been going out on long rides and I also went spinning in order to prepare myself.

“My daughters Sophia, eight, and Katie, six, kept asking why I was going cycling so often but were very supportive. They were there to meet us at the finish line in Dover, as was my wife Juliet, and also Lola and her family. Once they had met her they thought it was a really 
good cause.”

The cycle has raised more than £7,000 and Pete thinks that the £50,000 total target has almost been reached.

He said: “This is not a cure but the hope is that it will change Lola’s life in terms of her being able to communicate with her parents Noel and Kellie, to show them where her pain is.” To donate go to www.5countriesin5days.co.uk