Four-year-old boy cycles 13 miles and raises hundreds for Cransley Hospice

William Smith, 4, in his Cransley cycling jersey

One of Cransley Hospice's youngest ever fundraisers cycled an amazing 13.29 miles for the charity.

William Smith, four, took part in the Cransley Hospice BIG Cycle with his family and raised an incredible £300.

Before lockdown, William could not ride a bike and preferred to run everywhere. After much encouragement in May, his dad, Dan Smith, persuaded him to finally get going on his 'Bradley Wiggins' bike.

William and his family taking part in the Cransley BIG Cycle

William's grandma, Liz Adcock, then signed William up for the Cransley Hospice BIG Cycle with the rest of their family.

William's mum, Lisa Smith, said: "He hadn't even ridden up hills before, but the whole family rallied and encouraged him. Once he got going, he was off!"

The young cyclist managed 13.29 miles over two days. His mum and grandma also took part and cycled 10 miles and William's grandad Bill and his dad cycled 30 miles.

They all encouraged William, feeding him chocolate to boost his energy when needed.

Louise Preedy, community fundraising manager at Cransley Hospice, said: "We were so impressed by his achievement that we sent him a special Cransley Hospice cycling jersey which unsurprisingly is a little on the large size!

"Thank you to William and everyone that took part! Although we had to adapt the Cransley Cycle because of Covid-19 restrictions, the response has been beyond our expectations.

"We even had supporters joining us from as far away as Shanghai! We're already looking to continue the virtual element at next year's cycle event."

Cransley Hospice is a charity and has remained open throughout the pandemic but relies on support from the community to keep going. That support is more important than ever to enable the hospice to continue providing outstanding care and support for patients and their families.

You can support Cransley Hospice at www.cransleyhospice.org.uk.Message from the editor:

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