Shrewsbury 'boys' set for 360-mile charity ride

John Hitchin, Kevin Smith and Dave Phillips along with technician Will Maddocks, known collectively as '4 the boys', will cycle around 360 miles from Shrewsbury to St Ives in Cornwall to raise funds for charity PAPYRUS which helps in the prevention of young suicide. All four have lost family members or friends at a young age and they set up a group called '4 the boys' in their memory.

The four also have the support of television star and comedian Jason Manford, who gave his time for free last month when appearing at a black tie fundraiser for the group at Shrewsbury Town FC, raising over £3,000.

So far in total they have raised over £11,000 since setting the group up over two years ago. The intention was to do one major event a year, although this is the first one they will have done due to lockdown.

They will set off from outside the Stop Cafe at St Julian's Friars on Saturday morning, with the trek expected to take five days.

John, who runs a building company said: "We all know someone personally who has died young so it is quite personal, and this charity is aimed at supporting young people who may have suicidal thoughts and helping shape national policies around suicide prevention.

"Often it is a case of encouraging young people to talk about their feelings if they are feeling suicidal and being able to provide a support network to enable them to do so because sometimes they might not open up to their families easily."

"The aim of the group was to do something like this bike ride every year as a way of fundraising but we have been limited to how much we can do because of Covid-19. When everyone was indoors, nobody was going out and it was a difficult time to launch.

"But we were indebted to Jason who gave his time for free to perform before a sold-out audience which raised money and now we are able to get going starting with this challenge, which won't be easy because none of us are really avid cyclists, though I have gone from London to Paris before.

"We have trained hard though, the hotels are booked along the way and we are going the back roads to a large extent, with Will coming along as an engineer to mend any punctures or problems with the bikes, though hopefully it will be trouble free."

To learn more about the group and follow the boys' progress along the way, visit their Facebook page at facebook.com/4theboys