Harrogate cyclist making 288 mile journey in memory of loved one lost to cancer
Reverend Ruth Scott passed away in February 2019
Last updated 19th Jun 2021
A man from Harrogate's making a 288 mile trip to raise money for the hospice which cared for his auntie.
Simon’s aunt, Reverend Ruth Scott, died from a rare form of Lymphoma in February 2019 after being under the care of Macmillan for a number of years.
He'll have to cycle an average of almost 12 miles an hour for 24 hours to hit his target and arrive in Southampton at midday today (Saturday 19 June 2021).
He wanted to do "something crazy" to remember her so chose to cycle from the Sir Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre in Harrogate to the University Hospital Southampton where his aunt sadly passed away.
He said: "They've provided a huge amount of support for Ruth who was used to being the rock for so many other people and Macmillan were the rock for her during her treatment and after she died they continued to be fantastic.
"We thought 'Let's do something in Ruth's memory, what shall we do?' and she was well known in the family for taking on crazy challenges especially on her bike so something involving a bike seemed like the thing to do.
"As she sadly died at Southampton hospital, cycling down there seemed like the obvious place to finish.
Fundraising by charities like Macmillan was put on hold during the pandemic, meaning millions of pounds which would have been used to offer potentially life saving treatment was lost.
Simon told us that he wanted every family fighting cancer to "have the same chance".
He added: "I couldn't just sit by and watch other families go through cancer and not have the support that we had from Macmillan because they haven't been able to raise that much money this year because of Covid.
"Ruth's helped so many people so we wanted to help other people in her memory."
Simon's target was £10,000, but he passed that earlier this week.
Adele Burrough, fundraising manager for Macmillan Cancer Support Yorkshire, said: "Two thousand pounds could fund a Macmillan nurse for over two months and the difference that can make is huge.
"There are approximately 179,000 in Yorkshire living with cancer and with the pandemic we lost over £1m in Yorkshire alone due to lost fundraising.
"Whatever it takes we want to make sure we have that support for people."