A Burnham-On-Sea man has raised over £1,400 for charity by cycling from John O’Groats to Land’s End in memory of his father who died last year.
Tom Pereira decided to pedal his way across the country to fulfil a lifelong ambition and raise funds for St Margaret’s Hospice after his father, Mick, passed away in June 2012.
Tom has completed the feat with the minimum of fuss, without a back-up team and just a tarpaulin, a hammock and a sleeping bag.
He flew from Bristol Airport to Inverness In Scotland, where he reassembled hisbike and cycled to Inverness Train station, from where he caught a train to Wick and then cycled from Wick to John O’Groats.
Tom’s father was an adventurer who began travelling at 17 years old when he hitch-hiked to Morocco with only a few pounds in his pocket and some years later drove his VW camper from London to India on a shoestring.
“Tom was paying tribute to his father by attempting an equally arduous trip, something he can talk about in years to come, something his dad would have been proud of!” said his mother Gilly.
Tom, who says his Navy training in Plymouth set him up perfectly for the adventure, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “I appreciate all the support I have had back home – this has been a lifelong ambition of mine, and I am just so proud to be giving something back to the hospice that did so much for my Dad and Mum.”
St Margaret’s hospice helped Tom’s dad by supporting him when he was terminally ill with cancer when the doctors, nurses and therapists made his journey so much more comfortable and were wonderful, caring and supportive to him and his wife. Tom’s has an online sponorship page here.
