Cycle pair reach Groats for LEJOG Palestinian fundraiser and hit 98% of goal
A pair of friends cycled into John O’Groats on Sunday and completed a UK charity run to send medical aid to Palestinian people.
Musicians Aaron Horlock and Fergal Nesbitt are both from south east London and earlier this week, had raised 98 per cent of their £5000 target goal by finishing a Land’s End to John O’Groats (LEJOG) cycling journey.
“I’ve been doing a little bit of cycling but not a huge amount and decided I wanted to do Land’s End/John O’Groats about a year ago and started to seriously think about it again six months ago. Fergal said he’d be up for it so we went from there and decided it would be good to fundraise for Palestinian medical aid,” said Aaron.
The pair know each other well, playing at live folk music events in London pubs for some time.
Speaking yesterday (May 20), Fergal said: “We completed it within 14 days and we’re a day early. We’ll cycle to Wick this afternoon and get the train from Inverness and then Inverness to Edinburgh and then London tomorrow.”
The pair had booked seats and cycle space on the trains in advance so it was an added incentive to finish the LEJOG on time.
They had some bike trouble around Lancaster but luckily came across a cycle repairman in the “middle of nowhere”.
“Neither of us are particularly into cycling and it’s not the sort of thing we’d normally do. It’s really good to know you can just get on a bike and do it,” added Fergal.
“It feels quite surreal to have spent two weeks just cycling, eating, sleeping, cycling, eating, sleeping and not doing much else.”
They pair of friends did wild camping along the route and shared regular updates on their JustGiving fundraising page which can be found at: www.justgiving.com/page/aaronandfergallejog
On the fundraising page, they state: “We're doing this to raise money for Medical Aid for Palestinians, an amazing charity that works tirelessly on the front line, providing vital medical assistance to those who need it most.
“They're making a real difference in the lives of people affected by conflict and occupation.”
