A BIKER who is cycling 5,000 miles around Britain’s coastline for charity is set to begin his final leg of the journey around Scotland.
Josh Garman is attempting to complete the challenge, which will see him climb the equivalent of eight times the height of Everest, to raise money for charity.
Josh has already raised over £28,000 for the charity ‘Hope for Hasti’ which researches rare genetic disease.
Having been on the road for four months already, the cyclist and has travelled the entire coastline of England and Wales and is set to begin his final leg in Scotland on Saturday.
The 35-stop journey will begin in Dumfries before stretching up the Western coast of Scotland, through Skye and Stornoway and back down the East coast to Berwick.
The cyclist reached Carlisle on the 19th of last month and has decided to take a longer break to recharge before tackling the last leg of his journey.
Josh took to social media to ask followers if any of them could offer to put him up for a night or even give him a spot to pitch his tent.
Having already gained more than 1,300 backers on JustGiving, the determined cyclist now has a target of raising £50,000.
Writing to his JustGiving page, Josh said: “After completing an earlier challenge in September taking my mountain bike 600 miles across the country with E.T. as my sidekick I was able to give funds to this incredible cause.
“I set off after being captivated by a video of Chris Brannigan arriving in Edinburgh after walking 700 miles barefoot to change the life of his daughter Hasti.
“Stay at home has now been lifted and I cannot delay otherwise it may be too late to raise the funds we most desperately need.
“It means I will spend the first month or more sleeping solely in a homemade camper that I will tow along behind me. I will rely on the kindness of strangers unable to shower and sleeping where I can.
“In life you always have choices and I must help this family that I’ve grown so close to. Please if you’ve read this far. Donate. I promise you that every penny will be used to help children like Hasti.”
As well as cycling himself along the coast, Josh is also hoping to raise awareness for his fundraiser and the charity by pulling a home made bicycle camper behind him.
The bright yellow camper was made by Josh and his dad over lockdown from old bike wheels and sheets of Cortex.
It also includes his social media accounts and links to the websites in case any passers by should wish to support him on his journey.
The money is for the charity Hope for Hasti, which funds research for the rare genetic disease Cornelia De Lange Syndrome.
Hope for Hasti aims to raise £2.5 million to fund research and develop gene therapy to help those with the disease.
The charity was founded by two parents after their 8-year-old child was diagnosed with the rare condition, which is characterised by reduced growth, feeding problems, speech and language difficulties, hearing problems and- often- limb abnormalities.
The charity is looking for £400,000 to fund the initial research and provide a proof of concept for treatment.
The additional money will be used to fund clinical trials for other affected children and manufacture treatments.
