A HEADTEACHER from Farnham joined the 25,000 cyclists taking part in the 100-mile RideLondon sportive on Sunday, July 30, raising almost £1,400 and counting for the care of terminally ill children.

Pan Panayiotou’s school, Worthing High School in West Sussex, has for the past few years supported Chestnut Tree House, last year raising £12,000 from a sponsored walk, and Pan wanted to “do his bit”.

“When I heard about the sponsored walk and how much the school raised as a total I was truly amazed,” he said. “I wanted to show my staff and students how we all can do our bit and thought a way of showing this was to do the RideLondon 100 event.”

Starting at the Olympic Park in east London, Pan completed the 100-mile course through the capital and into the Surrey Hills in six hours and 25 minutes, averaging 16 miles per hour.

He told The Herald afterwards: “It was a really good day and there was a great atmosphere. Having closed roads to cycle on makes such a difference. It was a bit eerie at times but really fulfilling!

“The crowds around Kingston, Richmond Park, Dorking and Newlands Corner were amazing and made the tougher climbs that bit bearable. But I’m used to cycling the Surrey Hills so it was bread and butter really.

“Chestnut Tree House is a great children’s hospice based in Worthing, and is quite similar to Phylis Tuckwell Hospice in how it operates. It was a no brainer to raise money for them.”

Pan can be sponsored online at www.justgiving.com/Pan-Panayiotou?utm_id=27.

Chestnut Tree House offers support for the whole family including psychological and bereavement support, end of life and short break care and sibling support.

It currently costs well over £3.5 million each year to provide its care services, but families are never charged for their care and less than 7p in every pound is funded by the government.