Newbury father and son take on marathon cycle challenge for charity

A FATHER and son duo are taking on a mammoth cycle ride to raise money for a trip to help orphans in Romania.

Stuart Griffin and his 16-year-old son Timothy are cycling the 1,050 kilometres from Horris Hill in Newtown to Gordonstoun in Elgin, where Timothy is currently a pupil.

They are raising money for Timothy’s ‘social commitment’ trip as part of his studies, where he’ll go on a three-week expedition to Romania to help at an orphanage.

The pair will be joined by Tim Pyatt, the director of the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust, who is raising money for Great Bedwin-based charity Bruce’s Boats, and by Timothy’s younger brother William, who will join the team for the first leg of the journey.

The crew set off on Thursday morning and hope to reach the independent school, where Princes Philip and Charles both studied, next week.

Project manager Mr Griffin, 55, said he hoped the Romania experience would be an eye-opener for his son.

He said: “I think for him it’s going to be a huge thing because it’ll give him visibility of how supposedly developed countries like Romania aren’t as developed as we are.

“It’s that realisation of how other people’s perception of what’s important will vary and that’s what I’m hoping Timothy will come away with.

“He wants to go in the military and to be in that sort of environment will be hugely beneficial if one day he’s in the army doing humanitarian aid.”

The group will cycle from Newbury to Cambridgeshire in the first day, and then up to Elgin via York, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Dundee.

The plans have come together over the last year after Timothy decided he wanted to do the project, which has been ongoing for the past decade and helped hundreds of children.

Mr Griffin continued: “I think it’s extremely special to be doing it.

“It’s best to go big and we just said why not go from Horris Hill to Gordonstoun?

“We’ve spent the last year and a bit putting it all in place and now it’s here.

“We’re up for the challenge.”

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