Former nurse taking on epic charity cycle ride to aid children’s hospices across UK

A nurse who is on a 70 day, 3,200 mile bike ride around all 54 UK children’s hospices has stopped off at both Hope House and Tŷ Gobaith.

35-year-old Francesca Lennon, a paediatric nurse from Buckinghamshire was given a warm welcome by children and staff at both the Oswestry and Conwy Valley sites as she wheeled in and was given a guided tour of the facilities where 750 families across the area access specialist nursing care and support.

After working for 10 years inside the NHS, Francesca transferred to the hospice sector and saw first-hand what the children and families go through.

This eventually led her to found the charity Children’s Hospices Across The UK (ChatUK) to help educate people on the importance of the hospices to seriously ill children and their families.

On arriving at Conwy’s Tŷ Gobaith hospice, Francesca said: “It’s been a good start to my challenge but we’ve had mixed fortunes with the weather.

“Hope House and Tŷ Gobaith are both such wonderful hospices and are situated in beautiful parts of the country.

“The staff here are making such a difference to seriously ill children and their families.”

Francesca, who began her epic journey on 20th June to mark the start of Children’s Hospice Week (20-26 June) is also cycling in memory of her close friend’s son, Henry, who passed away earlier this year of acute myeloid leukaemia aged nine.

In tribute to Henry she has even named her bicycle after him.

She will be cycling through areas including Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Cambridge, Sheffield, Belfast and Scotland and aims to do 46 miles per day and finish on 28 August.

Head of Care at Tŷ Gobaith, Angharad Davies said: “It was a pleasure to welcome Francesca to our hospice and cheer her in as she arrived.

“She is very brave taking on this challenge and is doing a brilliant job in raising awareness of the vital work that children’s hospices across the UK carry out every single day.

“From all the children and staff at Tŷ Gobaith, we wish her a safe and successful onward journey.”

All funds raised from her cycle will go to children’s palliative care charity Together for Short Lives who support children’s hospices across the UK.

Fundraiser Cat Dowdeswell said: “It was wonderful to welcome Francesca to Hope House after a long day cycling and to be able to show her how money raised for us is turned into care for seriously ill local children.

“We wish her luck for the rest of her ride across the UK.”You can sponsor Francesca here on her Just Giving page.