Man to take on cycle dressed as a parrot

Horsham resident and keen cyclist Ben Hall will be cycling 200 miles over two and half days in a fancy dress costume to raise funds for Chestnut Tree House children’s hospice.

The 29-year-old, who describes himself as ‘crackers’, is set to take on the Arundel to Paris challenge in October dressed head-to-toe as a parrot in the hope it will help generate some more attention to the cause as well as be a bit of fun.

Ben, who has worked on the voluntary services team for Chestnut Tree House for six months, says he enjoys working for such an important local charity, but wanted to do a bit more.

He said:“As Chestnut Tree House is the children’s hospice for Sussex it is obviously providing a unique service to the area, and the fact that government funding covers less than 7% of the annual running costs highlights how important donations from the public are.”

So far his training has involved cycling distances of between 40 and 60 miles around Sussex without the costume, but on one occasion when he did venture out in it, it drew much attention, including some ‘very vocal support’ from some nearby builders.

Ben set himself the goal of raising at least £1,500 for the charity and has very nearly achieved his target.

With just £49 to go, he is hoping that the local community will get behind the cause and the costume and help him smash his target.

Ben can be sponsored via fundraising webpage www.justgiving.co.uk/ben-cth or texting the code CTHB87 followed by amount (£3, £5 or £10) to 70070 and is grateful for any support.

The charity provides support for children and young adults from 0-19 years of age with progressive life-shortening conditions. For more information visit www.chestnut-tree-house.org.uk