A group of Monmouthshire cyclists cycling from Lands End to John O’ Groats have successfully completed their challenge raising over £10,000 for two charities.

On Saturday August 28, Josh Williams, Kate Greenstreet and her daughters Amelia, Tilly and Jemima set off from Lands End in Cornwall on their challenge and after 13 days of tough gruelling cycling the group reached their destination cycling into John O’Groats in Scotland on Thursday 9th September.

In doing so the cyclists managed to raise over £10,000 for their chosen charities, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Parkinson’s UK.

In 2014, Simon Greenstreet, Kate’s husband and father of Amelia, Tillly and Jemima was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease and Josh’s grandmother has suffered with the disease for the past 25 years.

Josh also decided to raise money for Birmingham’s Children Hospital after receiving neurological surgery in 2011 having been diagnosed with a rare neurological condition called Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension.

The group also managed to keep supporters in check setting up their own blog online detailing their progress along their journey.

Posting on the blog after completing their epic challenge, they said: "Coming in to John O’Groats was amazing.

’’The weather wasn’t the best on the day we couldn’t see a thing, had no real idea where we were, or where the sea was, but we were met with a welcome party, holding bunting.

’’We all got to cycle under it to shouts and cheers.

’’We carried on up the little path to the sign posts at which point most of us burst into tears."

An eventful 1,535 km ride saw the group encounter many challenges along their journey including dodgy driving, punctured tyres and bumps and grazes from the odd fall or two.

Yet ably supported by group sing-alongs and a support crew made up of Josh’s Mum Diana who patiently followed the cyclists’ route driving a van kindly donated by David Spear Commercials, they managed to reach their destination and celebrate a wonderful hard-earned achievement.

Posting on their blog, Amelia said: "It has been an amazing experience, far better than any of us ever imagined.

"The training over the last 18 months has been gruelling.

’’It has been hard committing the time to it, spending weekends out in the rain on another bike ride on the same roads, fitting rides in after work but it has all been worth it.

"We have had an amazing two weeks - no fights, perfect planning and an all-round amazing experience.

"We would like to thank David Spear Commercials for allowing us to hire one of their vans free of charge for two weeks as a support vehicle and also for donating money towards our challenge.

"We would also like to thank our ’support team’ of Diana who kindly volunteered her time to drive the van following us on our route and sorting our food and washing, and my Dad Simon for supporting us, listening to our wittering and being there on the end of the phone to hear about our day.

"Finally we would like to thank you to all our friends and family for the many well wishes, messages of support and donations towards our two amazing charities.

’’Your kind support has meant the world to us and kept us going through this great challenge."

To read more about the group’s challenge please visit their blog at https://lejog-2021-gwba.blogspot.com/2021/08/one-more-sleep.html

Donations towards the two charities are also still welcome, to donate please visit https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/cakeittillyoumakeit