Father to cycle 900 miles in 30 days for cancer charity

Craig Howe, of Berriedale Drive, is to cycle 900 miles in total over the 30 days in the hope of raising £1,000 for the Sussex Cancer Centre, based at Brighton’s Royal Sussex County Hospital. The 33-year-old, who became interested in cycling at Christmas time when he bought his own exercise bike, said: “I thought it would be a great challenge, to give something back and say thank you. “I thought, why not challenge myself!” His father in law was diagnosed with throat cancer last August. “It kind of came out of the blue,” he said. “It’s one of those things – you think its never going to happen to you, or someone so close to you.” His father in law has since gone through chemotherapy and other intensive treatments, Craig said. “About a month ago, he got his first great result – which was excellent,” he said, although it will be some time before he hopefully receives the all clear. Craig said he and his family are ‘extremely thankful’ for the Sussex Cancer Centre. “What they’ve done is great,” he said. He has already managed to raise more than half his total of £1,000 before he has even started the challenge – which kicks off on Saturday, April 1. Every morning, Craig plans to wake up at around 6.15am, jump on his exercise bike and start cycling. He has worked out it will take him around one and half hours to reach 30 miles – ‘which will be a challenge’, he said. Craig decided to do it in the morning because, having a daughter – who celebrates her fourth birthday next week, he said: “I didn’t want to waste time in the evening.” Instead, he will be able to hit his target before going to his office in Littlehampton, where he works as a technical manager at a printing firm. He plans to make a video and take photos everyday. “My wife is going to do some interviews,” he said. “It should raise even more awareness.” He added that his wife is ‘very proud’ of him. Though he does not have any plans yet for when he completes the challenge in 30 days time, he said he will ‘definitely be having a rest’ the day it comes to an end. Help Craig reach his thousand pound target here Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live. Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on. 1) Make our website your homepage 2) Like our Facebook page 3) Follow us on Twitter 4) Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here. And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out! Always the first with your local news. Be part of it.