TWO Wrexham cyclists will be embarking on a huge challenge in order to raise money for a popular Wrexham hospice.

On Sunday 25th of August, Cat Smith and Ben Cox will be cycling around the coast of Wales, as well as Snowdonia, totalling s distance of 1000 miles in 5 days.

The pair are doing this to raise money for Nightingale House Hospice, based on Chester Road in Wrexham.

Mr Cox, 33, has been speaking to The Leader about what made the pair decide to take on this challenge.

“Me and Cat have been cycling together for quite a while now, we’ve been upping the distance every time and we decided we wanted a big challenge to do, and thought it was a good idea to raise money while doing it.

“We’ve been thinking about it and talking about some stuff we could do, and we decided 1,000 miles was a very hard challenge, but something that we could pull off.

“We’re going to be starting and finishing in Wrexham, doing a loop of Snowdonia, and then hugging the coastline all around Wales, we’ll be doing a lap of Anglesey as well.

“We’re doing this completely unsupported, there will be no car following behind us, obviously we’ll stop off at a Spar or a McDonalds if we need food, but we’ll need to carry all our own food, drink, clothes, so yeah it’s going to be a big challenge.

“We’ll probably plan ahead while we’re riding in terms of where we’ll sleep, but some of the rides will be 24-hour stints to make sure we finish it in 5 days, so I reckon we’ll get in 2, maybe 3 proper sleeps at a push.”

Mr Cox is a primary school teacher in Rhyl, while his accomplice Miss Smith is a professor of biostatistics.

The pair are riding for Nightingale House and hope to raise as much money as possible, and Mr Cox explained why they picked the hospice as their chosen charity.

“Nightingale House do so much great work for so many people in the local area, and the running costs to keep that place going are astronomical.

“I’ve had to deal with family having long term illnesses, and though they were not treated by Nightingale House at the time, we both understand just how important their work is to so many in this community.

“It’s crucial to a lot of people, and it’s an amazing local cause.

“We have no set goal in mind of how much we’d like to raise, but if we could raise enough to keep that place going just for one day, I’d be over the moon.

“If you’d like to donate then please visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/bencox1985?fbclid=IwAR3BrwuxwrurOxVhOu1UOwSAwcXA999Q1l_z0FzKgMV-KDrD5yo1LTQUQlg.”