Dads team up to tackle coast to coast challenge for children’s charity Visyon

A team of 5 dads from Congleton are set to cycle an epic 210 Km over 2 days from coast to coast, to raise funds for local children’s mental health charity – Visyon.

Keith Hipkiss - who runs Warrior Martial Arts in the town with his partner Mandy – put the group together after seeing the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of the children he was teaching.

The team, which includes Dave Workman from the Covid vaccination development team at AstraZeneca, will be setting off from St Bees in the lake District on the West Coast, on Saturday 10 July. The 5 seasoned cyclists will be travelling through the hills of the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales, before finishing at Seaham on the East Coast for a well-deserved fish & chip supper!

Keith says: “I really wanted to take on this challenge as I’ve seen lots of the youngsters I teach struggling with their mental health over the past few months and it’s a cause close to my heart. All the other members of the challenge squad also have children, some of whom attend classes at the gym, and we all know how hard it’s been for families trying to manage their emotional health through lockdown. We wanted to raise funds for Visyon because we know they’re doing vital work to support young people in our local area.”

Kerry Spink, Engagement Manager for Visyon said: “The Covid pandemic has had a huge impact on children’s mental health, and we’ve seen many more young people with complex mental health issues coming to us for help over the past few months. The team have set themselves an enormous challenge and we’re really grateful to them for pushing themselves to the limits. We simply couldn’t do all the work that we do to help children in Congleton and across Cheshire without brilliant supporters like Keith and the team!”

Local businesses are supporting the challenge too. The Cycle Centre in Congleton are sponsoring spare supplies for the bikes and LizzyB's Cafe from Congleton Indoor Market are providing much-needed snacks!

The team have set themselves a target of raising £5k. You can support them by making a donation at their fundraising page here https://visyon.enthuse.com/pf/keith-hipkiss