Student to cycle from Singapore to France for charity

26 Feb 2018

A final year student in the School of Physics and Astronomy plans to cycle 16,500km to raise money for a charity who have supported his younger sister

Jake Johnson is a final year Physics student who won’t be following the usual route of looking for grad-schemes or completing a PhD after he graduates in the summer. Instead Jake is taking a different path - a rather long path that will see him cycling from Singapore to France!

Alongside his friend Pierre, with whom he shared some adventures during his year studying abroad in France, Jake will be undertaking the huge feat of cycling 16,500km to raise money for the charity Newlife. Newlife offers mobility equipment (or funding for mobility equipment) to disabled children, enhancing quality of life for disabled children and their families.  Jake’s motivation is his younger sister, who is herself in a wheelchair and has benefited from aid provided by the charity.

The journey will take off on New Year’s Day 2019 and Jake and Pierre have already begun raising funds to support their journey. In order to achieve this fantastic accomplishment and raise as much money as possible for the charity, Jake and Pierre will need top-quality equipment and are hoping to do a “warm up” cycle along the west coast of Australia.

Jake and Pierre are “both huge fans of cycling, sport and adventure” and said that “after roughly 18 years of classroom and study-orientated lifestyle, it feels like now is as good a time as any to explore this passion.”

“Raising funds for Newlife is particularly close to home for me as my family has directly benefitted from the help of Newlife and similar charities.” Jake adds “It doesn't promise to be easy, in fact it promises to be rather gruelling, but I think that overcoming that is what I love!”

The funding call for helping them acquire their equipment is open until October. The sooner they are able to reach their goal, the sooner they can begin their preparations. Any donation, no matter how big or small, will be warmly received.

Jake and Pierre will be blogging, vlogging and keeping the world updated on their progress through their wordpress account, so be sure to keep checking for updates on their progress!