Exactly seven years to the day from when Paul and Alison Dixon initially visited Derian House with their then few weeks old son Harry, the couple recently made an emotional first return to the specialist children's hospice in Chorley, Lancashire accompanied by the other members of the Pedal de Alps team. The five strong squad headed by multi FIM Trial World Champion Dougie Lampkin will cycle to Nice, France this August to raise funds for this wonderful facility that provides essential children's palliative and respite care for hundreds of families from across the region.
Unfortunately Harry lost his fight for life aged just fourteen weeks, but despite this sad and difficult period in the family's life back in 2006, the Dixons remain indebted to Derian House for the care and support they provided at that time. Driven by this incredibly personal experience, Paul Dixon has recruited his long time friend Dougie Lampkin, Dougie's cousin James Lampkin, Dougie's manager Jake Miller and fellow motorcyclist Woody Hole to pedal over a thousand miles from Chorley to Nice via the Alps later this year to supplement the mere ten percent of statutory funding that the hospice receives annually.
With under three months to go until the Pedal de Alps team sets off from Lancashire, their fund raising efforts since launching earlier this year have seen the current donation total reach just shy of six thousand pounds, and with the real prospect of hitting the magical figure of ten thousand pounds prior to their summer departure date. Alongside their monetary efforts the squad have also been continuing to cover the miles and make the most of the warmer and lighter evenings to prepare for what will undoubtedly be the toughest challenge any of the team members has ever faced.
Following their recent and moving visit to Derian House, Lampkin and co headed across country to the famous Trough of Bowland to enjoy a team training ride in the same hills that are frequented by Britain's 2012 Tour de France winner, Bradley Wiggins, who just happens to reside on the outskirts of Chorley and not many pedal turns from the well renowned children's hospice. Fresh from his own victory at the recent Scottish Six Days Trial, Dougie spoke about how he felt after having now had first hand experience of this specialist facility.
"It goes without saying, none of us were particularly looking forward to visiting Derian House as we knew it was going to be extremely difficult for Paul and Alison given the circumstances of when they were last there."
"However Paul and Alison were incredibly strong and we were actually all inspired by their strength and the whole positive feel of the place. The facility is much bigger than we expected and despite the nature of the care they provide, the overall environment and surroundings are very uplifting." explained Lampkin.
"It seems unbelievable and almost criminal that Derian House receives so little direct funding from the authorities when it plays such a massive and vitally important role for so many families from such a large area who desperately need help and support when their children are seriously ill."
"Having now seen what Derian House is all about for ourselves, we are all extremely proud and determined to do our small bit to ensure that this wonderful place can continue to do the great work it does for both the children and their families." ended Dougie.
To learn more about the challenge, Derian House and Harry please visit www.pedaldealps.com
Donations can be made by visiting www.justgiving.com/pedaldealps or by sending cheques payable to Derian House to Pedal de Alps HQ, 3 The Old Court House, Tenterden Street, Bury, UK - BL9 0AL