Kingsbridge colleagues Jeremy Sharland and Ian Playford will be digging deep again this year to pedal their way through a challenging 300km bike ride from London to Paris in just 24 hours.

Jez, our Development Director, and Ian, our Chairman, will take on the annual Duchenne Dash in support of Duchenne UK, the country’s leading Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) charity.

And, just like last year, Jez has pledged to ride 300km back home again the next day, if he reaches his stretch fundraising target of £6,000.

That means he’ll travel home unsupported, riding 200k, from Paris to the ferry at Dieppe, across the Channel by ferry and then back to Kingsbridge’s Tangmere office – completing a total 600km in just 48 hours of riding.

Inviting friends, colleagues and contacts to support the charity, Jez said: “While my official fundraising target is £4,000, I intend to better that by at least 50%.

“If you have a corporate charity fund that needs a worthy cause, or a personal fund for good causes, then what better way to use it than supporting me to go 300km to Paris – and hopefully back again – for a GREAT cause.”

You can support Jez on his fundraising page here.

Last year Jez and Ian, along with Kingsbridge Chief Financial Officer Paul Butler, pictured at the Eiffel Tower after completing the London to Paris leg, raised an incredible £22,000 from the Duchenne Dash and return. This year will be Ian’s fourth trip for Duchenne UK, of which he is a long-term supporter.

There is currently no cure for DMD, which affects mostly boys and causes all the muscles in the body, including the heart and lungs, to gradually weaken.

The number of children who are diagnosed with it is relatively small, and so the research and clinical trials to find treatments are carried out through the charity, set up by mothers of affected children 10 years ago.

Find out more about Duchenne UK at www.duchenneuk.org