------------------------------------------------Update!--------------------------------------------------

I am definitely still going to do this. But I have a bit of on the day support in Matt Parish. He's the Chief Operating Officer at CACT and is also cycling the London 100 to raise money for CACT, so we have joined forces. (That's us in the picture, outside ouroffice, enjoying some time near a bike).

We are raising money for two great CACT initiatives; Ability Counts, a pan-disability football programme which gives disabled young people the opportunity to participate in recreational and competitive football, and The Bursary Fund, which is open to all CACT participants who are restricted from participating for financial reasons. Examples funded have been football boots, training kits and places on training courses.

Thank you so much for your support.

Victoria

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Some time at the end of 2015, my colleagues convinced me to sign up for a really long bike ride. "It will be fun!" they said. "What's the worst that can happen?" they said.

Well. It turns out, the worst thing that can happen is that I get a place in the ballot, and they mostly don't. But I am determined to do it. So, on the 31st July 2016 I will ride the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100. 

As someone who (famously) despises any kind of exercise, gets puffed out eating her lunch, and has never seen the inside of a gym (what do they do in there?!), this is a real challenge. And some of the lovely people who know me have asked if there is a charity that they can donate to, given that what I plan to do is so ridiculous that some good should come of it.

So I am asking for donations to the charity that I work for, Charlton Athletic Community Trust (CACT).

CACT are a separate entity to the football club, but share a badge, and it enables us to do amazing things. The best way I can explain what CACT does is to show you this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iM1-nNt3-Q

I have asked that any donations made go to the bursary fund, which was set up to support participants on any CACT programme who need some extra help. For example, if a young person would really benefit from joining a football session but can't pay for boots, the coach could apply to the bursary fund for some money to buy a pair. It's a very good thing that is funded entirely by donations.

In return, I will keep you updated on my training progress, and take terrible bike selfies. 

Thank  you.