Lee Relf and his friends are about to embark on a 130 mile cycle ride dressed as medieval knights – but it’s his sister Gemma and nephew Noah who are the true heroes…
Inspiring, brave, awesome – these are just some of the words that spring to mind when writing about Lee Relf and his friends, dubbed the knight riders, who are taking on the challenge of a lifetime this weekend.
The 11-strong team are cycling 130 miles via four castles in Suffolk, dressed as medieval knights, to raise awareness and funding for the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust.
But the reason behind their epic adventure is the true inspiration, and why Lee has dedicated 2016 to fundraising. He’s doing it for his little sister Gemma Edgar and his nephew Noah.
A true inspiration
Gemma was just 29 years old when she was diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour. She was taken ill suddenly and without warning when her youngest son Noah was just eight weeks old. She woke up with a terrible headache and within hours she had been diagnosed. She needed major surgery to remove the majority of the tumour, followed by radiotherapy.
A year later, in January 2016, she and her husband Rob found out that Noah, then aged 18 months, had retinoblastoma. Noah has had surgery to remove his eye, chemotherapy and proton beam therapy treatment, which the family travelled to America for.
Despite everything they have been through, they are working tirelessly to raise awareness and funding for both Brain Tumour Research and CHECT, with the help of friends and relatives, by carrying out a number of fundraising events throughout the year.
The Knight Rider Challenge
The Knight Rider Challenge starts on Saturday, July 30 2016 and the team will visit Framlingham, Eye, Bungay and Orford Castles.
So far already, the knight riders have raised nearly £4,000 for CHECT.
If you’re around this weekend, please do go and support the riders, they would love to see you. You can find information about the route, including stop off points, below:
Saturday 30 July
- Set off from Framlingham Castle at 8.00am
- Stop at Saxtead Windmill
- Arrive at Eye Castle
- Carry on to the Buck Inn in Flixton for lunch, roughly arriving 1.00pm
- Leave by 2.00pm and head to Bungay Castle
- Head towards the campsite at Kessingland, hopefully arriving by 6.00pm
Sunday 31 July
- Leave campsite by 9.30am and head towards Southwold Pier and Lighthouse
- From Southwold head towards Dunwich
- Carry on through Leiston and stop at the abbey ruins
- Stop at the House in the Clouds in Thorpeness and carry on the coast road to Aldeburgh
- Arrive at Aldburgh for roughly midday and stop for fish and chips on the beach
- Carry on towards Orford Castle, stopping at Snape Maltings
- Head towards Framlingham, stopping at the Green Man pub for a drink
- Arrive at Framlingham Castle from 5.00pm
- A six-mile slow ride back to The Cretingham Bell pub for a welcome party
From all of us here at CHECT, good luck and thank you so very much to all the knights!
If you can’t get down there in person but you’d like to show your support to Lee and the family, please sponsor them on their JustGiving page.