A Haslemere mum has raised more than £1,000 after saddling up for a cycle challenge to support the charity which is helping her son on the road to recovery following cancer treatment.

Theresa Kennedy joined the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust’s Largs-to-Cowes cycle challenge to support a team of riders on their final push to the finish. The eight-day challenge between the trust’s bases took riders a total of 600 miles from the west of Scotland to England’s south coast.

Theresa, who signed up for the leg from Hindon in Wiltshire to East Cowes on the Isle of Wight, said: “I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope I gave the riders a bit of a boost with my energy. What kept me motivated, because some of them were flagging, was just to get us all to the end.”

Theresa’s son Dominic was aged just four when diagnosed in December 2013 with Embryonal Rhabdomyosarcoma. He has since been on three sailing trips with the trust.

Theresa smashed her £250 target and raised £1,170 for the charity.

She said: “I think the amount raised is awesome and it’s still coming in. I wanted to take part because I have an adopted son who had cancer, who’s benefited already through three trips. He’s found something he enjoys and he’s enrolled to a sailing club for summer to learn how to sail.

“I definitely notice a difference in him when he comes back from each trip. It gives him something new to tell me about and his confidence grows because he can be himself – he just takes off and loves it.”

A total of 11 riders participated in the gruelling ‘Brighter Futures’ Cycle Challenge.

Cycling around 75 to 80 miles each day on a picturesque but demanding route, the team pedalled through Scotland, Cumbria, Yorkshire and Cheshire then on to Ironbridge, Herefordshire and Wiltshire, before finishing in Cowes where the riders were welcomed by Dame Ellen MacArthur.

Anyone who would like to support Theresa’s fundraising for the trust and make a donation should visit her JustGiving page at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Theresa-Kennedy8

For more information on the ride, visit https://largs-to-cowes.blackbaud-sites.com/