Lady Bathurst begins mammoth cycle challenge next week

Lots of Cirencester residents have recently spotted Lady Bathurst cycling around town on her e-bike.

She has been busy practicing for a cycling challenge which will start at Lands End, at the tip of Cornwall, and end John O'Groats, the furthest northern point of the UK mainland.

Lady Bathurst decided to undertake this challenge to raise money for The National Foundation for Retired Service Animals, a charity which she founded. 

This animal charity was set up to promote the care, well-being, and welfare of retired service animals from across the emergency services.

She developed a love for service animals during her term as Gloucestershire High Sheriff in 2016.

Its motto is 'Protect Our Protectors’ and helps with medical and veterinary bills, which inevitably occur as the animals get older.

Along the route, she will be joined by the Duchess of York, ambassadors of the NFRSA including Ben Miller, David Gower, Tom Gaymor, Jackie Llewelyn-Bowen as well as officers and staff from the police, fire and rescue services, the border force and prison services.

Lady Bathurst will begin the journey on Wednesday, September 13 and will be stopping off at various points on this 1,022 mile journey to visit various services that the charity supports to meet and thank officers and handlers.

She recently picked up a cheque from the owners of Indian Rasoi - situated in Dollar Street, Cirencester - for their recent fundraising dinner for the charity.

More than 60 diners attended the Indian and Bangladeshi restaurant's fundraising dinner in July which raised more than £1,200 plus a further £300 from the raffle. 

Restaurant owner Roman Abu then added a further £300 to round up the donation to £1,500.

Lady Bathurst said: “I’m so excited to be taking on this extraordinary challenge, and I’m particularly looking forward to meeting as many of you wonderful supporters of the NFRSA as I can along the way.”

To donate to the GoFundMe page visit tinyurl.com/2y4cwsf8