A safeguarding administrator has raised more than £1,000 for charity in memory of her grandmother.
Kirsty-Ellen Whitfield cycled 55 miles from London to Brighton in eight hours for the British Heart Foundation.
Kirsty-Ellen who has worked for the Trust for more than four years, hoped to raise £500 but after reaching £1,100 she has set a new goal of £1,500.
She said: “I wanted to take part in the London to Brighton cycle ride to help raise money for the charity and although I had never done anything like that before I really liked the idea of a challenge.
“My grandmother passed away ultimately due to a failure with her heart and she was all about raising money for charity. No distance was too far for her to walk even in her 80s and so I wanted to do something in her memory.”
Kirsty-Ellen didn’t train for the mammoth ride, which took place in September, but said the atmosphere and experience with all the other cyclists kept her going.
She added: “Although I have never cycled on a road before, I had mini milestones to get to which helped and I was surprised how fine I felt, considering the heat and lack of training but I was just having the best time.
“Once I got through London a lot of the route was through countryside on the roads so it was a nice route to ride, other than the hills which were horrendous.
“I really enjoyed it though and was relieved to see my family and my boyfriend who surprised me by being at the finish line, so that was really nice.”
You can donate to Kirsty-Ellen’s JustGiving page by clicking here