At the end of 2023, five Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service officers decided to embark upon the LEJOG challenge. All keen cyclists, the team has been busy planning the journey and steadily building up the training since then.

Assistant Chief Fire Officer Neil Griffiths, Area Manager Tony O’Dwyer, Group Managers Gareth Scott and Matt Barlow and Station Manager Rick Aldous will be supported by a number of volunteers who will be driving a support vehicle and the team will be staying at various fire stations throughout the event. The team are incredibly grateful to the fire and rescue services who have kindly allowed them to stay.

The team has decided to raise funds for two causes that are very close to their hearts, The Fire Fighters Charity and Macmillan Cancer.

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service has a proud record of raising funds for The Fire Fighters Charity and the team is only too aware of the benefits that some of our firefighters and their families continue to receive. As a result the team is keen to support them in raising more vital funds. Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service sadly lost three members of staff to cancer recently and the team is also keen to support those organisations that offer vital services to families in these circumstances. Cancer is a disease that doesn’t discriminate and sadly, many of us will know friends, colleagues and family members who will suffer from cancer in their lifetime.

The Fire Fighters Charity is very dear to anyone working, or having worked, in the fire and rescue service as nobody ever knows when their support will be needed. It is an invaluable resource.

Macmillan Cancer Support was chosen as a charity not only because of the loss of three colleagues, but for how they have supported people who have lost family members.

Neil lost his father in 2019 and Macmillan played a vital role in supporting his family in those very difficult weeks.

Matt lost his father to cancer 24 years ago. He lived with terminal cancer for a long time from when Matt was very young. Basically, Matt has lived pretty much his whole life being impacted by cancer to some extent or another and that is why he is keen to take on a significant personal challenge, combining something he enjoys with something very important, to hopefully have a positive impact for others suffering or impacted by cancer.

Tony’s aunty died two years ago from what started as skin cancer. Macmillan was phenomenal with the care and attention their nurses provided before she finally went into a hospice. The support that Macmillan provides is second-to-none, be that advice or support at a vulnerable time in life.

Tony has also benefited from The Fire Fighters Charity. Following a back injury in 2008 and following procedures he went to Jubilee House for what he thought was going to be rest and recuperation. Far from it, said Tony, he didn’t stop from the minute he got there but said it was well worth it. The physio team had him doing exercises he hadn’t done in months, they were brilliant and he can’t thank them enough.

The fundraising cycle ride will start on the morning of Wednesday 5 June from Land’s End in Cornwall and conclude when the team reaches John O’Groats, 10 days and approximately 1000 miles later, on Friday 14 June. The whole journey will entail the team climbing over 15,000 metres of elevation along the way!

Along the way the team is staying at fire stations in Holsworthy, Bridgwater, Worcester, Winsford, Kendal, Moffatt, Kinross, Aviemore and Helmsdale. We are extremely grateful to the following Fire and Rescue Services for their hospitality - Devon and Somerset, Hereford and Worcester, Cheshire, Cumbria and the Scottish Fire Service.

The Fire Fighters Charity provides life-enhancing support to the UK fire and rescue service community, to both serving and retired staff. That support includes mental health, physical health and rehabilitation and social wellbeing with some or all of these offered at one of their three residential centres across the UK.

Macmillan Cancer Support provides services for people living with cancer at every stage of their cancer experience. They are there to provide emotional, practical, physical, and financial support. They're 98% funded by voluntary donations, so fundraising is essential to make sure they can deliver the vital support people living with cancer need.