About

Alix and I want to raise funds to purchase an automated external defibrillator for our village, Hope, in Derbyshire. So we have decided to cycle across the Pyrenees mountains in June and, hopefully, this will be a challenge that friends, colleagues and neighbours will think deserving of support and sponsorship - we think it is, given the sleepless nights it's causing in the Archer household and the frenzied desire to keep building up the training miles....despite the Derbyshire weather! We intend to ride across the Pyrenees from West to East, starting at Hendaye on the French Atlantic coast and finishing at Cerbere on the Mediterranean coast, this is what's known as the official 'Raid Pyrenean' route. Our ride will be 720 kilometres or 450 miles long and we will have to ride over 18 mountain passes along the way - some of these are the highest mountain passes in the Pyrenees and most have figured at some point in the Tour de France. To be honest, that all sounds difficult enough but those crazy French have put a time limit on the ride, so to become an official 'Raideur' we will have to complete it in 100 hours or just over 4 days. This means riding over 100 miles each day for 4 consecutive days, including the big ascents we'll face. Hmmmm, maybe we should have said we'll sit in a bath of baked beans for a couple of days to raise money?? So that's the challenge, why are we doing it? I suffered a heart attack myself, back in 2011, and knowing a couple of friends and neighbours who have also had a heart attack or sudden cardiac arrest, Alix and I understand the issues and implications of such events. It is critical, if someone suffers a cardiac arrest, that medical treatment starts as soon as possible. The quicker the intervention, the better the outcome. So urgent action is required, particularly in rural areas (like ours) where it can take several minutes to get a competently trained responder to the scene. An Automated External Defibrillator (which we'd like to help buy and install in the village) is a portable electronic device, housed in a secure cabinet in the centre of the village, designed to be used by a layman to diagnose the type of cardiac arrhythmia and administer defibrillation if required.The equipment and support is provided by a charity called the Community Heartbeat Trust and more information can be found on their website - www.communityheartbeat.org.uk. Any donations we receive will go directly into a fund set up by the Hope Sports Club and we will purchase the defibrillator, the training package and promotional material from this fund when we have raised enough money. So that's what we're doing and why we're doing it. We hope you think the cause and the challenge are deserving of your support. Your donations and words of encouragement are much appreciated. You can donate via Givey using a credit or debit card, there is no need to log in to PayPal if you are prompted to do so, unless you already gave a PayPal account. If you click on "checkout as a guest" you can then just put your card details in and then you'll be asked for your address details etc. this then aullows PayPal to debit your account and put the money in our Givey fund. All safe and secure. Also, most donations are shown as anonymous. You can put your name in the comments box (it'd be nice if you left a comment...) then we can thank you personally. Thanks Paul and Alix