An 800 kilometre bike ride to raise essential funds for the most caring of charities

An 800 kilometre bike ride to raise essential funds for the most caring of charities, by three New Zealand friends (Simon Day, Ian Cunliffe and Richard Jones) – all originally from the UK. The ride is in honour and memory of John Poustie – a lifelong friend of Simon’s.

John Poustie was one of the most charismatic people Simon ever had the privilege to call a friend. He shared a house as students, played club and county rugby together, taught for many years at the same school, played squash incredibly competitively and they had an unbelievable amount of adventures and laughs. Above all, he made people of any age smile whatever he was doing, and he was a brilliant teacher and an inspiration to many.

At the age of 63, John was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s and life for him and his family would progressively become more challenging with the sad deterioration of memory and physical capabilities linked to this wretched disease.

He and his family have received amazing support from the charity Age UK (Exeter) since the onset; it provides day care services for those with dementia/Alzheimers as well as providing other initiatives for those coping with a partner who has Alzheimers. All funding comes from charitable donations.

I took up cycling at the start of this year (encouraged by both Simon and Ian) and so have decided to ride with them, from Newcastle, the northernmost Premier rugby club in England, to Exeter the southernmost and Simon’s old club, which John also played for. Our route will cover about 800 kilometres and will take us just under a week, which we feel is a suitably demanding challenge and worthy as a fundraising exercise.

I am asking for your generous support for the venture which I know will do much for families coping with loved ones with dementia and Alzheimers. All funds will go directly to the charity, as we are totally covering all our costs.

Very sadly, John passed away just after Christmas, so the ride will now be in his memory.

Age UK Exeter runs centres on at least 2 days a week for people with Alzheimer's/Dementia with a high ratio of staff and volunteers, giving meaningful and supportive care.