Cycling through the Canadian Rockies to mark 40 years of a vital service
Andrew Lunn, Consultant Paediatrician and Head of Service for Paediatric Nephrology, wanted to take on a challenge to mark 40 years of the EMEESY (East Midlands, East of England and South Yorkshire) service, which specialises in caring for children with renal and urology issues.
Andrew decided to cycle more than 500 miles through the Canadian Rockies. He explained why he chose to take on this immense challenge:
“It is 40 years since the Children’s Renal and Urology Unit started in Nottingham and now it provides care for children and young people with kidney disease across the East Midlands, East of England and South Yorkshire, which is now referred to as The EMEESY Children’s Kidney Network.
We wanted to mark the fact it was 40 years since our unit was established, and we were discussing as a team how best we could do this. We felt a campaign to encourage fundraising towards our charity fund with Nottingham Hospitals Charity was the best way. This gave an opportunity for many people, including staff, patients and families, to participate in a fundraising challenge which will go on to support children, young people and their families.
So far we’ve had a wide range of people doing things individually such as running and bike rides, groups who have organised cake sales, golf days and even extreme challenges such as sky diving. We’ve even had a group take part in Nottingham Hospitals Charity’s Dragon Boat Race.
Ten years ago, I did a fundraising challenge which involved cycling to all the hospitals in our region, which was around 600 miles. This time around I wanted to something distinctive. I have family that live near the Canadian Rockies and thought that would be the perfect place to cycle. It was only after some research that I discovered there was a place called Kidney Lake, which seemed like a perfect link to what we were doing. I was then able to plan a route that included Kidney Lake and the highest road in the Rockies which in total equalled about 500 miles, and the equivalent of cycling from sea level to the top of Everest, making it the perfect challenge.
The cycle challenge was really good fun and helped me emphasise how fundraising can be enjoyable for everyone. Kidney Lake is the most peaceful and calm place I have been to and was a real highlight to the challenge. However, there were a lot of challenging hills on the way which made it tough and there were some particularly difficult downhill off-road sections which actually turned out to be the hardest part.
I decided to document my journey each day on Instagram and I am very grateful for all the lovely responses and support from those who were following my journey.
I am incredibly humbled that my challenge alone raised over £5000 which will go towards Nottingham Hospitals Charity’s Kinder Appeal, which supports our unit and patients. This will help provide items and special events that have a direct impact on patient wellbeing.
We have patients who can travel up to three-hours, three to four times a week for four-hour dialysis. Thankfully the charity has supported improved chairs for them whilst they undergo treatment. The charity also supports a team of patients attending the British Transplant Games. This really builds their confidence and helps show children with kidney conditions that anything is possible.”
We’re so grateful for Andrew and the entire EMEESY team for taking on fundraising challenges to support their patients.
If you would like to get involved in a fundraising event or do your own thing, please click the button below to find out more.