He completed his bike ride just yesterday.
We’ve seen some incredible efforts this year in a bid to raise money for charity – from Captain Tom Moore’s honourable garden laps, to Manc lady Win Page who raised almost £20,000 walking 100 lengths of her driveway at the age of 99. And now, going one step (or cycle) further is Wythenshawe Dad Wesley Hamnett – who just completed an entire bike ride from Glasgow to Manchester on his young daughter’s pretty-in-pink bike. I know, my knees are hurting at the thought of it, too.
Spending six days on the bike with little rest in between, Wes completed the 220-mile journey home on the two tiny wheels, after arriving in Glasgow via train to begin the epic sponsored ride.
Raising over £4,500 via GoFundMe, Wes was originally set to cycle from Russia through six countries before arriving back in the UK on a whopping 1250 mile ride home – but as a result of COVID-19 was forced to re-think his plan (which I think we can all agree honoured all of those who initially sponsored the ride).
The fundraiser aimed to honour Wes’ Grandad who lost his second battle to cancer, with Wes stating on his GoFundMe page: “I want to do something to pay tribute to him and my other three grandparents who are now all at peace. With this and other situations in life I have experienced, I would like to give back to the charities that I feel have relevance and very much deserve all the help they can get.”
All donations will be split across the charities Macmillan Cancer Support, Christie Charitable Fund, British Heart Foundation and the Wythenshawe Hospitals MFT Charity – and Wes has also promised that he’ll be taking on his epic Russia > UK bike ride next year, describing his ride from Glasgow > Manchester as a “training session”. Rather you than me, Wes!