A teenage girl has completed a 12-day cycling challenge, raising over £2,000 for Redwings Horse Sanctuary.
Isabel Wright, who is 13-years-old and from Rugby, Warwickshire, rode over 700 miles with a little help from her father Rich Jones and his best friend Dave Wright, who took it in turns to join her on a tandem bike. The trio cycled to every one of Redwings’ visitor centres across England and Scotland.
Izzy completed the last leg of her fundraiser on 30 August when she arrived at Redwings Oxhill Visitor Centre, near her home, and the place it all started.
“My Grandma took me to Oxhill to visit when I was eight and it made me really want to raise money to help Redwings,” Izzy said. “This was my third fundraiser for them and it was really nice to end it there. It was really hard at times but it was also really fun.”
Izzy, Rich and Dave started at Redwings Mountains in Forfar, Angus, Scotland on 19 August before cycling to Redwings Caldecott and Redwings Aylsham, both in Norfolk, Redwings Ada Cole in Essex and finally Oxhill.
“We’re all feeling good, we’re obviously very pleased to have completed it,” said Rich. “Dave and I only did half the distance each but Izzy did the whole thing.
“She is back to school this week and we’re already thinking about what we’re going to do next year!”
Debbie Scott, Head of Fundraising at Redwings, said the team were very grateful to Izzy, Rich and Dave.
“It’s such an incredible achievement, and we are so touched that she was inspired to do something like this for us,” she said. “Thank you so much Izzy, and to all the people who made generous donations to her fundraiser. Supporters like you allow us to keep helping the horses, ponies, donkeys and mules who need us.”
Isabel, Rich and Dave walked 100 miles across the Shetland Islands in 2021 and the father and daughter did two of the three highest peaks in Wales in 2022 before their trip had to be cut short. The £2,495 raised for the cycling challenge brings their fundraising efforts to almost £6,000 so far. You can donate to Isabel’s JustGiving page here.
