Thank you for taking the time to visit my donation page.

I’m really excited at the opportunity to take part in “Ride London” and this year use the event to help raise money for my chosen charity, Home-Start UK.

The Prudential Ride London event takes place on Sunday 29 July 2018. It is the biggest cycling event in the UK – equivalent to the London Marathon for runners. It involves cycling 100 miles around London, into Surrey and back to London.

Why Home-Start? Since its formation in Leicester in 1973 it has grown to support thousands of fragile parents and children every year throughout the UK and now globally.
Please see further details about Home-Start below.

I have completed Ride London before, but I am now another year older with that number beginning with a 6 not too far away!! Also, the dreadful weather of the winter has meant training has been none existent. So, it will be a challenge to hump my not so slim bod around the course. However, whilst I have commenced training and done a couple of events I know that all the preparation and pains will be worth it for a really good cause 😊

Any size of donation will be gratefully received.
Thank you very much,
Martin

About Home-Start:

This year Home-Start UK wants to transform the lives of thousands of children who are facing tragedy and hardship … and it all starts with people just like you, as your donation will help support Home-Start UK's work across the country.

Home-Start is one of the leading family support charities in the UK. Home-Start volunteers help families with young children deal with the challenges they face. They support parents as they learn to cope, improve their confidence and build better lives for their children.

Across all four nations of the United Kingdom 16,000 volunteers support 30,000 families and 60,000 children to transform their lives.

There are 269 local, independent Home-Starts. At the heart of each Home-Start’s work is home visiting volunteer support.

Families struggling with post-natal depression, isolation, physical health problems, bereavement and many other issues receive the support of a volunteer who will spend around two hours a week in a family’s home supporting them in the ways they need.

Last year Home-Start supported 60,000 children in 30,000 families, in communities across the UK.
Home-Start is committed to providing real evidence of the difference their volunteers' support makes for families, which is why they measure the issues faced by families, and the changes to their situation while they are working with a volunteer.

Their support means:
• 95% of families felt their children’s emotional and physical health and well-being had improved
• 95% of parents felt more involved in their children’s development
• 94% of parents felt less isolated
• 94% of parents said their emotional health had improved
• 95% of parents felt more able to cope with the day-to-day running of the house

Home-Start started in 1973, founded by Margaret Harrison who believed that supporting a family was best done in their home where it can be shaped to the needs of the family. She realised that if parents get support and friendship from another parent, they will be better equipped to learn to cope with the many difficulties life can bring and will be able to give their children the best possible start to their own lives.

While this idea remains at the heart of their work, Home-Start have created new ways of helping parents and their children to meet the changing needs of families.

This idea that started in Leicester, spread across the UK and is now a movement around the world. There are now 22 countries on five continents that have Home-Starts providing support for families.

Martin Clarke