The Long Way Round UK. July 27th

Hi all,

My eldest son has aked me to post this.

If there are any kind soles that wish to support him inhis endevers it would be greatly appreciated.

Andrew JENKINS (jenks)



The Long Way Round the UK.

July 27th – August 6th 2006.

HI, my name is William. I am 12 years old and ever since I was a little boy I have wanted to do something for charity so inspired by watching the DVD, “The Long Way Round” with Charlie Boorman and Ewan McGregor going around the world on motorbikes. I have decided to go pillion, with my Dad, all the way round the UK from the most southerly point, Lands End, to the most northerly point which is John O’ Groats in Scotland.

Motor cycling is one of my hobbies which I share with my Dad so for my thirteenth birthday I chose to do this trip.
I want to do this because I have always wanted to do something that I enjoy but for people less fortunate than me can get something out of it as well.

The route that we are planning to take starts in West Sussex, from there we will ride to Lands End. The next day we will start riding up to John O Groats, passing Wales and stopping at various places of interest such as The Eden Project and the Lake District. Once we get to John O’ Groats we will start going south staying on the east coast. The total trip will be 2400 miles which we plan to achieve within a week.

The hospice that I have chosen is Chestnut Tree House Hospice in West Sussex. The hospice is run for children who may not make it into adulthood and their families. It was built in 2003 so it is quite new; and it is the only child’s Hospice in West Sussex which can accommodate up to 400 children and their families.

I would kindly ask you to sponsor me upon completion of my Lands End to John O’ Groats journey to help raise money for those less fortunate than me who stay at Chestnut Tree House Hospice,



Thank you . William Jenkins.

Sponsorship

Hi William,
Ask your dad to put me down for £20 for your cause! It is very good of you to pillion and to raise money for a children's hopsice. My sister died of Leukemia when I was a young child (I was 7 - she was 13) and hospices are wonderful places that were not really available when she was so sick (in the early 1970's).
Good Luck on your ride and please let me know where I can send and also Gift Aid my money for your charity.
Wish me luck too - I am the female rider for Region 8 of the Pink Way Round. Its a big challenge for me too as I haven't done a huge amount of riding. A new challenge for both of us!
Well done YOU!!!
Moo

Count me in

Hi William,

Yes I'll put up a £10 for your cause. Again make sure you send me details of how to gift aid it. Don't see why the tax man can't help as well . Best of luck with the journey.

Why not ask people for a floor to sleep on and save the cost of accommodation. I am sure there will be lots of people who will help. More money for the charity then .

Let us know how you get on (with piccies) and send round the website for the hospice so people can go and see who their helping.

Keep us informed of the itinerary, some of us wouldn't mind meeting-up on the route to hand over a contribution personally.

What a good lad.

Hoe my kids are as good as you when they're teenagers. Put me down for a tenner too. Enjoy../Rob

Hi William

Get your dad to PM me with your address and I'll send you a donation to wards your charity. hope you enjoy the run with your dad.

Schultz

Hi there,

I am over welmed by your generous comments,

My home Address is:
Chestnut Tree Hospice
C/O William Jenkins
Middlemare.
West Mare Lane,
Marehill,
West Sussex rh202ea.

Charity Number 0256789

Dad is away on yet another jolly, so everything will be quiet untill he gets back on Monday 26th.

Thank you everyone.
We will post our route nearer the time, although exact times we will be there are difficult to predict.

William

Good one Willie someone will need to keep the old man in check
Good luck
and all the very best

Good luck Jenks. When you post the route ill try and meet you with a few others and say hi.
If you can post details, Piccies sponsor form etc.. im sure we can get the 2000+ at sellafield to help.

Hi all

Hi guys i did this exact same trip in landrover discoveries for children in need last year(dressed as a 6ft yellow teddy) we did 2396 miles in 48 hrs switching from one disco to another i did the whole journey and slept for a total of 28 minutes in 48 hrs so as a man that understands your journey all to well i'd love to meet you on the trip and maybe ride a little bit with you and hand over 20 quid for your effort,so post the route and i'll ride to meet your route and time ........nice one lads your an example to us all

Great stuff, William. Post up your itinerary and I'll try and meet you, ride part of the way and give you 20 quid towards a great charity. Well done, pal

Thank you everyone for your support

The Route is now coming together, although I am sure that there will be some variations along the way. So if anyone would care to join us for a day or to meet up please let me know, it would be great for us both to see you.

27th July Day 1:- Leaving Chestnut Tree Hospice at about 10.00 after a tour of the place and to meet some of the children and there families, then make our way to Lands End for a photo shoot.

Day 2:- Lands End to Stafford we will be stopping at the Eden Project for a cuppa and a quick look around

Day 3:- Stafford to Stirling

Day 4:- Stirling to John O’ Groates Photo shoot

Day 5:- John O’ Groates to Stirling

Day 6:- Stirling – Cromer

Day 7;- Cromer to Pulborough.

I make that 2100 miles but we will be taking in some places of interest as well, so we should end up with the 2400 miles.

If anyone has any suggestions of places to seen / roads to travel we would very much appreciate there input,

Andrew & William

I'll send you some money in the post William.

Try and bank any monies you get via gift aid as the tax man then 'donates' a little extra to the pot

Well done to you both, I look forward to hearing about your run as soon as you get back home.

Take care.... ride safe x

The BIG day arrives, thank you everyone for your continued support it is very much appreciated. We are just off to the Hospice to see everyone there and will be on the road toLands End by 10.00 am

Hope to see some of you on route. My mobile is 07956 365157 if anyone wants to meet up.

Andrew & William

Well done mate, enjoy the week with your dad.
When you get back let us know who we make cheques payable too and I'll post a few squid.

We are back!!!!!!

This was a better trip than I ever imagined, fantastic scenery, amazing country side, good company and all for a good cause.

William will be posting a diary of events when the poor lad wakes up, but in summary, we had a great time and met some great people along the way.

We ended up doing 2223 miles in the 7 days, not bad bearing in mind William is only 12 and I am approching beeing a fossel.

We have had some fantastic pledges from here and the CW Motorcycles web, along with family and friends, so much so we are approching £1000 for the Hospice.

If there is any body who wishes to donate could the cheques be made payable to "Chestnut Tree Hospice"
c/o William Jenkins
Middlemare Manor,
West Mare Lane,
Marehill,
West Sussex
RH20 2EA.

Thank you for all your support.

Andrew & William when he gets out of bed.

The Long way round the UK.
By William Jenkins

Day 1:
Arundel, West Sussex to Redruth, Cornwall.
We set off from our house at about 9am with two good friends, Colin and Mark who were joining us on the first leg of our long journey. We arrived at the Hospice, which was a lovely place, where we had our pictures taken by the bikes and then a guided tour around the Hospice.
At around 11am we set off on our long journey, a lot longer one than I had thought. We started towards Land’s End and at about 12:30 we stopped off at a roadside café, once we had had lunch we waved Colin and Mark off and started the long journey by ourselves.
We drove a few miles to Stonehenge where we took some pictures. We passed Exeter and went through Dartmoor, soon we were at Land’s End were we took a few pictures of the bike by the signpost but didn’t get the official one because there was too much of a queue. With our pictures taken we had a quick look around the place. We got back on the road and drove for about 20 miles down the road to Redruth where we found a B&B to stay the night in.

Day 2:
Redruth to Windermere, The Lake District.
We woke up, had breakfast and got the bike, for today we had decided to get lots of miles done so we could spend more time in Scotland. From Redruth we went back up to Exeter, to Bristol and to Manchester; by now the roads were full of nose to tail traffic. We got to the lakes where we tried to find a hotel but what we didn’t realise was that in the coming week-end was going to be a flying boat show so everywhere was full, after about an hour trying to find a hotel we found a very expensive one but as we were on a charity ride they gave us a room half price. After 13 hours in the saddle we finally got a room.

Day 3:
Windermere to Fort William, West Scotland.
We woke up quite late today and because we were ahead of schedule we went looking around Windermere and Bowness where we hired a boat and went sailing around the lake. After a quick drink we set off. First their was Kinock pass which was 20 miles of beautiful scenery and amazing roads. After a few miles we entered Scotland where we had a quick stop at a café overlooking a small loch which was nice. We then headed to Glasgow, by this time it had stared to rain, the first time I have ever been to Scotland and it rains! Compared to the lakes the lochs are like oceans, they just kept on going and going through lovely hills and valleys. So finally we neared Fort William where we stayed in a hotel overlooking a loch. While we stay there we met a very nice couple who we passed the day putting the world to rights.

Day 4:
Fort William, to Wick, near John O Groats
Going for John O Groats today! The night before we had decided to get on the road before 8 am so we could get some good roads done. So we wake up 7:50am had a good breakfast where we were joined by our friends who we met last night. Once breakfast was over we packed up the bike and set off: 10am. We had planned to go up to Kyles of Lochalsh and up a coastal road which ran up the west coast but as time got on we realised that if we wanted top get to John O Groats before night fall then we had to go a different way. So we cut across to the east coast, towards Inverness and on a fast road and headed up the east coastal road, passing Loch Ness as we went. Through Wick and about 15miles north was John O Groats where we had our picture taken by the signpost and had a quick look around the shops. At 6pm all the shops were closing down but we stayed a while and talked to two bikers. After that we headed back to Wick where we found a hotel, parked up, unloaded, had dinner and then bed.

Day 5:
Wick to Stirling.
We woke up very early today, about 8am from a good nights sleep after having a filling breakfast we geared up and left at about 10am. we had decided to stop off and have a look at a distillery. We rode for a 100 miles and found at the Glenmorangie distillery which was recommended to us by the hotel manger; after a 40 minute interactive tour around the distillery, we bought a few things at the shop and headed down to Stirling along narrow scenic road. Once we got there we booked early into a hotel and went to bed. By now the miles were having an effect on us, we were both tired and dad’s neck hurting.

Day 6:
Stirling to Gateshead, England.
Today we decided to have a lazy day because it was only 150 miles to our next destination, so we could afford to have more time in Stirling. Once we had had breakfast we walked down to the tour bus stop and waited for the next bus. On the bus we passed through Stirling Castle, then the university where my step mum used to go, we then stopped off at the Wallace Monument, which is a very tall tower in memory of one of the greatest highland freedom fighters. Once we were at the top we could see all around the town and to the hills.
Most of the way down to Newcastle was on A roads but 25 miles each side of the Scottish-English boarder was lovely twisting roads. Back in England the roads were very plain and boring, compared to the Scottish roads. When we were in Newcastle the traffic was very bad and it was raining quite badly but soon we got to the friend we were staying with, who is my step mums godmother and is a very nice lady. We had a good meal there and the comfiest bed that I have had this trip.

Day 7:
Gateshead to home!
We left quite early in the morning because we had a lot of miles to do. We were going to do main roads down to the south of England, most of the way was by the A1, and it was going to be the 2nd biggest day concerning miles. The time flew because I knew that we were going home. Once we got home we had a drink and went straight to bed. Oh sleep. A total of 2143miles!!

I feel I have learnt so much from this adventure that much of the fun is planning and organizing of the trip. I feel that this has challenged me in more ways than I have ever imagined both physically and mentally. We have met some great people who have been so supportive of our trip and have donated generously. Thank you to you all.

If you have pledged or would like too, could cheques be made payable to Chestnut tree hospice and sent to William Jenkins, Middelmere, West Mere Lane, Marehill, West Sussex RH202EA




William Jenkins. Aged 12

LWR the UK

Well Done William &Dad (can't forget the pilot) bet you were glad to see your own bed when you got home.

Schultz.

What a Star You Are!!

Dear William,
I am most moved by your write-up and by what you have done! IN this day and age of children only wanting to play on playstations; watch tv and generally think about themselves; your parents have raised a wonderful lad who is thinking about and has done something for those far less fortunate than himself. You are to be congratulated for what you and your dad have done! Not everyone could do that William...I hope you are REALLY proud of yourself.

I have sent a cheque today for £20 with instructions on the back to giftaid it so it turns into £25.60. IF you raise £1000 - that will turn into £1280.00 if everyone giftaids their donation. They have to be tax payers and you have to have their full name and address. Sorry if you already know this -- just want to make your money and effort go further.

With kindest regards and pure admiration,
Moo

An update on progress>

We have raised just short of £1200 for the hospice, most of which can be gift aided so that works out at £1400. Which we are both very proud off.

One of the highlights to this trip has been the very kind and supportive notes we have recived, giving incouragment and and financial support, it makes us very proud to be part of this group.

Needless to say William feels as much part of the club as I do, and is coming up with some great idea's for a follow up trip. 10 counties in 10 days!!!!

The challenge I have set him is to achieve straight A's in his core subjects over the next acedemic year, and we will do an other trip. I know that's tough and I certainly didn't achieve it, but he did it last year so he can do it again. Reasonable? possibly not but he can do it if he wants.

Thank you to everyone who has incouraged him, and supported our project, it wouldn't have meant as much as it has if it wasn't for you all.

Regards & Ride Safe
Andrew