Mike and his Bike: Big Boss Bike Ride Day 1

I'm a bit late with this post - had a few technical challenges over the weekend. Sorry!

Anyway, we've done the ride....how did it go? Did we finish? We're on the edge of our seats. Well you are...we're not, because we don't want to see our seats for quite a few days yet!!

We all reported at Helen & Douglas House in Oxford. Helen House is the world's first hospice dedicated to the care of life limited children. During the briefing we heard the moving story of how it all began, from the founder, Sister Frances Dominica. Helen House opened in November 1982 and sprang out from the friendship between Sister Frances and the parents of a seriously ill little girl called Helen who lived at home with her family but required 24 hour care. Douglas House provides hospice care for young adults and is on the same site in a different building. It really bought home the reason why all of us were there that day, hearing directly about the tremendous work done by all of the Children's Hospices around the UK. To have fun and do the ride...yes, but also to put much needed money into the ongoing support of this charity, so it can carry out its vital work for our countries' kids and their families.

I will try to post every day this week to give you the whole story of the ride. In the meantime, here's a short video and some photographs..

The Big Boss Bike Riders are (from left to right). At the back: Chris, Paul, Anthony, Julian, Andrew, Sister Frances Dominica (not riding!), Me and Andy. At the front: Bryan, Jean, Barbara and Viv. Picture taken in the garden of Helen House, Oxford.