Audenshaw man's bike ride for Macmillan

An Audenshaw man has raised over £3,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support in memory of his late father. 

Stuart Dixon decided to honour his dad, who went by the same name, when celebrating turning 35 - the same age his dad was when he sadly passed away with cancer in 1998. 

The field-based rep for GAP Convenience Distribution in Preston enlisted the help of family and friends to embark on a static bike ride in a bid to support Macmillan, who helped Stuart Dixon Sr during his illness. 

After initially setting himself a target of £750, Stuart has since smashed that total, raising in the region of £3,000 through a fundraising night and a JustGiving page, but he feels it's for a very worthy cause. 

"The help we, as a family, received from Macmillan during my dad's illness - and even after he passed away - was absolutely phenomenal," Stuart told the Reporter. 

"I will never forget how much they looked after us and I can still remember the name of my dad's Macmillan nurse - Sue. Macmillan is one of those fantastic charities where you don't know how much they do until you use it. 

"You don't realise what goes on behind the scenes. They do so much more than you think. They were still visiting us after my dad died, with after care and they rely solely on donations which is unthinkable really." 

Stuart, who lives on Maple Avenue in Audenshaw, decided to mark his birthday on 14 August by cycling the distance from Lands End to John O'Groats and back - a small matter of approximately 1,748 miles! - in just 72 hours over the Bank Holiday weekend later in the month. 

"I thought a static bike ride would be a good fundraising idea. We did it on exercise bikes on my driveway at home and started at 6am on the Saturday morning. I roped in my family and friends - we each did one-hour shifts on the bike. 

"We got to Sunday afternoon and we'd completed the distance between Lands End and John O'Groats, so we decided we still had time to do it again and we managed to do it with 40 minutes to spare! 

"We couldn't have picked a better weekend - it was really hot! But we did it and I couldn't have done it without my amazing family and friends. Me and my wife Katie have been blown away by the support we've received from members of the public. 

"We had donation buckets in front of the bikes throughout the weekend and people were giving money generously. We had a fundraising night at the Fitzroy pub in Droylsden the week before. It was a chance for all of the riders to get together before the bike ride and we raised £1,300 on that night alone which was great." 

Stuart's JustGiving page is still open and if you would like to leave a donation, visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/964miles.