Six friends are cycling from Cwmbran to Aston Villa FC‘s home ground to raise money for Crownbridge School.
Andrew Pearce, Mark Wyatt, Mark Probert, Raymond Hall, Ryan Emmanuel and Reece Davies will set off on Thursday 12 September for the 120-mile trip and arrive in Birmingham the next day.
They chose to collect sponsorship for Parents and Friends of Crownbridge School because of Andrew’s family’s special link with the school.
He told Cwmbran Life that his brother Simon passed away in 2017 from bowel cancer. One of Simon’s three children, Daniel who is autistic, started at Crownbridge School, around the same time as his father’s death.
Andrew, who lives in Bridgend, said: “My nephew has just left there. My brother passed away seven years ago. Daniel was shy and we all expected him to go further into his shell.
“What the school has done for him is nothing short of remarkable. The progress he’s made is unbelievable.”
The proud uncle said the staff at the school have helped Daniel make “unbelievable” progress and this support culminated in him “singing and dancing” at his leavers’ concert in front of a large audience.
He said: “The school is remarkable, humbling. Just what these kids have to go through and the support [from staff] is incredible. I take my hat off to them.”
The friends have taken part in several sponsored bike rides over the years and raised a total of £8,500 for charities including Bowel Cancer UK, St David’s Hospice Care, and Young Lives v Cancer.
Andrew added: “To get on a bike for two days with your mates is something we all look forward to. It’s not easy”, before joking, “It’s about the right distance. We didn’t think we could go much further than that.”
Support the school
Sponsor the cyclists and support the school through this JustGiving page.
Andrew wrote on the JustGiving page: “He has now just left Crownbridge aged 19 as a polite, outgoing and charming young man, having won the pupil of the year twice in a row. This is due to the fantastic work of this school and their staff, and his amazing mum Katie Pearce.
“Having witnessed first-hand the work the dedicated staff do at this very Special School we wanted to do a small thing to raise some money to support them in their work.”