Wirksworth woman raising aid for warzones worldwide on epic bike ride

A Wirksworth woman will embark on a 240-mile cycle ride next month to raise money for humanitarian efforts in warzones all over the world.
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Tasha Davis, a psychotherapist at Chesterfield Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, is aiming to complete the coast-to-coast Trans Pennine Trail in just four days starting on Friday, April 29.

Accompanied by university friend Kate Jones, the pair are hoping to manage the whole distance without a road support team, adding an element of risk to the adventure.

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Tasha, 44, said: “We both love cycling but it’s the first time we’ve ever done anything like this.

Tasha Davis, right, and Kate Jones.Tasha Davis, right, and Kate Jones.
Tasha Davis, right, and Kate Jones.

“Neither of us has even done 60 miles in a day before, and we’ll have to do it for four days straight so we’re busy training.”

Tasha and Kate will ride from Southport to Manchester on the first day, on to Silkstone in South Yorkshire on the second, then north to Selby, and finally east to Hornsea, where they are planning a well earned day off by the seaside.

Tasha said: “We’re both equally excited and nervous by the challenge. We don’t want to let anyone down.

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“We first talked about doing it a while ago, when we didn’t have a good cause in mind, but now we feel like we definitely have to complete it. There’s added pressure.”

The pair have so far raised £880 towards a target of £1,000 for the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC).

The national group of charities is currently running a Ukraine crisis appeal, but Tasha and Kate want their fundraising to go further.

Tasha said: “The situation in Ukraine at the moment is really concerning, and is obviously at the front of people’s minds, but there are also conflicts going on in Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan and other places which are equally destructive and terrible for civilians.

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“Organisations linked to the DEC work to try and prevent the harm of war all over the world, and that’s something we strongly believe in.”

She added: “It’s fantastic that we’ve almost hit our target already, it’s only been a week or so since we launched the fundraiser, but it shows the strength of feeling about war and how its consequences touch people.”

To add to their fundraising total, go to https://bit.ly/3qOvtbH.

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