Local teacher and friends cycle across Norway to raise funds for women’s cancers

St John’s Academy teacher, Penny Dickinson(61) together with friends – Margo George(51) and Kerry Hall(56) are cycling 580 kilometres coast to coast in Norway to raise money for  the UK charity The Eve Appeal  that funds research and awareness-raising of the five gynaecological cancers – womb, ovarian, cervical, vulval and vaginal. Last year Kerry’s daughter-in-law, Maria, who lives in Norway, was diagnosed very late with cervical cancer. She is in her 40’s, with two young children and a husband. The friends want to show support, strength, and love by taking on the cycling challenge and raising funds in the process. Click here if you would like to donate to their Just Giving page.

The friends are cycling the St. Olavsleden, the northernmost pilgrim trail in the world and the Scandinavian equivalent to the El Camino de Santiago de Compostela, the famous pilgrim route in Spain. The trail is approximately 580 kilometers long and extends from the Baltic Sea in the East to the Atlantic Ocean in the West, from Selånger in Sweden to Trondheim in Norway. The trail goes through large forests, over mountains, along lakes and past communities and historic sites.

The three intrepid cyclists are hiring bikes. They have no support team and will travel with a bike pack only. They plan on cycling 50-60 miles per day.

Penny told Marlborough.news, “Cycling can be a tough sport for ladies, especially on the parts other sports do not reach ! We have spent many hours training, hovering over saddles when it is rather too painful to sit down! However, the pain is temporary, unlike the discomfort suffered by hundreds of ladies every year who face round after round of chemotherapy, immunotherapy and side effects that can take over their lives.”

On their Just Giving page the three friends explain – “Our bike maintenance skills are limited but our communication skills are excellent, with Penny even having some Swedish language skills. This started as an embryonic idea a long time ago, but has now taken on meaning and substance because this is no longer about us, this is about raising awareness for Maria, cervical cancer and everyone else who has had to face this disease which rids you of confidence and hope. Raising money for cancer research would be a fantastic by-product of this awful experience, but raising awareness, hope and bringing a little brightness to lives would be an awesome result too.”