Yorkshire teacher Chris Gruar won’t need to worry about long haul flights when he heads home to Australia in three months’ time – he’s going to cycle!
The 25-year-old who was born and brought up in Sydney, has spent the past year living in Leeds and teaching English in the Wakefield area. After graduating from university in Sydney last year he decided to work in Britain doing teaching supply work before taking up a maternity cover post at Castleford Academy. That post ended at Christmas and he is now teaching at Freeston Academy, in Normanton.
As the time of his departure approaches, he’s training hard for his marathon bike ride in aid of AICR.
Sadly Chris lost his mum to cancer when he was just two years old. Recently another family member was diagnosed, prompting him to get on his bike to help raise money for some of the world’s most promising research into the disease.
AICR's strapline: ‘Cancer knows no boundaries, fortunately neither do we,’ really, appealed to Chris. “When I started looking for a cancer organisation to fundraise for, I found most were specific to one country,” he explained. “I wanted to find something more global and I thought AICR was the ideal cancer charity to support.”
Chris reckons it’ll take him at least 18 months to cycle the 30,000 km through more than 30 countries on the way home to Australia. He’ll be entirely unsupported throughout his marathon trip, so gear will have to be kept to a minimum and he hopes to sample some local hospitality to ring the changes from camping along the way.
When he sets off in April, Chris will invite former colleagues and pupils from Castleford Academy to ride over the start line with him and perhaps keep him company for the first few miles. Already they have helped get the fundraising ball rolling towards his £10,000 target and a number of exciting events are planned in the coming months. Ten teachers from the school are helping him organise a 50km canal ride fun event for Castleford pupils.
Chris’s 13-day ride from Castleford to Dover, via Wales and southern England will take in a series of cycle trails and destinations he would like to see before leaving England. Once he gets under way, he aims to further raise awareness of AICR by giving talks to local schools and communities and contacting local radio and newspapers. He has also created a website www.cycling4cancer.com so that followers can keep up to date with his adventures.
He’s been hooked on cycling since backpacking in Asia some years ago. Earlier this year he cycled 500km along Hadrian’s Wall in the north of England, taking in the spectacular scenery of the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales. This summer he pedalled to Portugal, covering 2500 km in 34 days and camping most of the time.
While he certainly has been bitten by the travel bug, Chris, who has dual British and Australian citizenship through his Dundee-born dad, feels a strong connection with his UK roots. He says he is fascinated by the closeness of everywhere in the UK compared to the vast open spaces of Australia where he says the roads – and drivers – are not so cycle friendly. “I love how you can jump on a train and in 20 minutes you can be surrounded by different landscapes and cultures. Living in Yorkshire, I try to get out into the Peak District most weekends to walk, cycle, go caving or wild swimming to make the most of my time here,” he commented.
Norman Barrett, Chief Executive of AICR said: “We are absolutely delighted and humbled at what Chris plans to do for us. As AICR receives no Government money, we rely heavily on the efforts of fundraisers like him to enable us to continue awarding grants to leading cancer researchers all over the world. Cancer won’t stop because there’s a recession and cancer research shouldn’t either. Thanks to Chris and people like him we are able to keep supporting our scientists wherever in the world they are working.
