Dear Friends,

Just over 90 days ago I set off to celebrate my 73rd birthday by cycling / walking 600 miles in 40 days, to raise money for

CHOOSE LOVE/HELP REFUGEES.

I contacted everyone I knew, asking them to Choose Love and donate to Help Refugees;
As we are more and more aware, especially with the recent sad events; the death last week of one more young person trying to find safety by crossing the English Channel, the deaths only last week of at least 45 people including 5 children trying to make the crossing from Libya to Italy, and by the desperate situation of people living in unsanitary refugee camps trying to escape the covid 19 virus, every penny is life saving, and supports these people towards living a ’normal’ life, with friends, education, work, even if it is far from their homes.

You were amazing and over a couple of months you were so generous with your donations, your encouragement, your messages, your understanding.

THANK YOU SO SO MUCH. YOU HAVE RAISED OVER £3,600 FOR

HELP REFUGEES.

I set off like a hare, racing along the deserted London streets, wondering at the architecture of the city, I visited old haunts from my nursing days, and my jewellery business, caught up and cycled with old friends, met several new dear friends, I dashed along the Grand Union Canal East and West, photographing the bird life, herons, and swans, watched cygnets just hatched, and watched them become more independent, grey clouds swimming behind their proud parents.

I must admit I felt a little pleased with myself, as I reached day 32, with 517 miles under my bicycle wheels, I was a over a day ahead of my target, but as we know pride comes before a fall, and I fell big time.

I picked myself up outside Ealing Hospital, dusted myself off and was about to get back on the bike, when I was promptly marched over to the hospital by a very concerned young man.
X-rays and CT scans confirmed 3 broken ribs.

To cut a long story short, over the next month I spent a total of 13 nights in hospital, my left side looks like a patchwork quilt now with three sites of drains, with beautiful stitch marks. And I realised how extremely lucky I was to have born in a place where the medical care was automatic and second to none.

That extreme good fortune was really brought home to me when I was blessed by a brief visit from David Nott in St Mary’s hospital.

For the last 27 years David has taken unpaid leave from his job as a general and vascular with the NHS to volunteer in the world’s most dangerous places. His voluntary work has taken him to war torn countries, Sarajevo, Congo, Yemen, Lebanon and of course to Syria.

In these countries, the patients, many of them children, are suffering multiple injuries caused by cluster bombs, or sniper fire.
The surgeons, some with only basic training, are working under extreme pressure in dirty operating theatres, with minimal surgical equipment. The personal dangers for the surgeons is immense. The Geneva convention to protect medical personnel, facilities and equipment is mostly ignored. In fact these were prime targets.

I have spent the last week of my convalescence reading David’s honest compassionate inspiring book,

War Doctor, Surgery on the Front Line.

I highly recommend reading this book. (link above). It really conveys the horrendous situations that the people who are seeking refugee status have been living through, and why they are forced to make these desperate journeys.

Now, I have finished my project like a tortoise, and walked the last 83 miles to achieve the total of the promised 600 miles. Again I was grateful to you and your trust in me. Walking was the best thing I could do to get my rather damaged lungs back into shape.

Thank you so much for sponsoring my project and donating to

CHOOSE LOVE, HELP REFUGEES

Love

Angie

June 15th - 21st is refugee week; a time to create better understanding between different communities, and encourage successful integrations, enabling refugees to live safely and continue making a valuable contribution.

Choose Love, Help Refugees provide support for refugees through out the world, which is needed more than ever during this time of the pandemic.

This is day 27 of my pledge to cycle 600 miles in 40 days, and I have completed 406 miles, just over two thirds of the pledged mileage.

Thank you so much for your generous and valuable donations, and for making a massive difference to these peoples lives.

A very quick update note today as I am completely shattered .. more from celebrating my birthday than cycling today, but as write this I can hear Lyse Doucet in the back ground reporting on BBC on the disastrous situation in Yemen from the covid19 virus, and the lack of any possibility of care for these people whose lives have already been ravaged by the civil war in Yemen. I feel so grateful for all your generous donations, which will help people in similar situations through out the world. I have cycled now 309 miles and every turn of the wheel fills me with gratitude when I see your donations and the help that it gives to refugees.

This is my 16th day of cycling to raise donations for Help Refugees, and I have achieved 241 miles, just one solitary mile ahead of my target!
I have been absolutely blown away by my friends generosity, both with monetary donations, but also with words of encouragement, and I am incredibly grateful for both.
The last couple of days the weather has made a complete and rather depressing change .. Gone are the sunny days, the sunglasses, and suntan cream, the gentle cycling along the canal. I've been trying to go by the BBC weather forecast to decide times of cycling, waiting until the forecast rain should have stopped, but that's been a disaster, the sun has kept shining during the rain forecasts, and it seems that every time I carry my bike downstairs it starts to spit with rain, and continues through out my ride, while the wind picks up .. but it is good to realise that things are not as I would always like them to be, and remember that I am doing this to support people whose lives have been devastated by things that are out of their control. I will post some photos on my instagram page @angiegooderhamstore as soon as not too knackered! Thank you all again.

I've now been riding for 11 days and have complete 179 miles, doing a few extra miles each day to give myself a day of rest from time to time. I have seen fabulous architecture, my favourite building the Hoover Building on the M40, swans with 8 adorable cygnets, and talked to say many people, some living on boats, so many without jobs, and all soldiering on. A delightful man from Goa today, restaurant work dried up, no furlough pay, no flights back to Goa to get him home to his wife and kids. I'll post some photos on instagram once I'm not so knackered! https://www.instagram.com/angiegooderhamstore/