Lancashire Youth Challenge: life-changing charity set for mammoth 170-mile cross-country cycle fundraiser

And it’s an ethos which has served them well in their efforts to support young people in the North West in their efforts to overcome barriers and obstacles to achieve personal success. For almost a decade, the organisation has engaged young people in personal development challenges, well-being programmes, creative arts activities, community impact projects, and outdoor expeditions.

Working with people who are dealing with significant personal challenges such as managing mental health, coping with trauma, family breakdown, youth offending, housing poverty, and family pressures, Lancashire Youth Challenge is focused on building resilience and enabling young people to feel optimistic and capable of entering training, further education, and employment to craft the lives they wish to lead.

Through physical fitness training, mindfulness and wellbeing, cultural and creative activities, peer-mentor training, and personal coaching, the charity is all about a holistic approach to transformation - an approach which will be supported by funds raised through their upcoming Coast2Coast Cycle Challenge in June.

Putting their pedal power to the test, staff and supporters of the Lancaster-based charity have challenged themselves to a marathon fundraising cycle ride of 170 miles from Morecambe to Bridlington.

Amongst those taking part will be Lancashire Youth Challenge’s Chief Executive Guy Christiansen, his colleague Sam Duckles, young trustee Josh Lightbown, youth worker Ed Maxwell, and friend of the charity Bill Best. The group, which will set off from Morecambe on June 16 and take the Way of the Roses before finishing on June 19, will be supported by a support vehicle driven by Alaric Best, a new LYC trustee.

“We hope to cycle about 43 miles a day and the biggest challenge will be the hills in the first stage through the Trough of Bowland and into the Yorkshire Dales,” says Guy. “It can be hard work when we’re cycling but I love the meditative quality of it. When I’m taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of nature, I can totally switch off.”

The organisation’s first charity cycle took place ten years ago and involved a mammoth trek from Lancaster to Edinburgh. What’s more, Guy himself is no stranger to marathon cycle rides, having been taking on increasingly-difficult charity endeavours almost every year since back in 2011, when he worked at The Dukes youth arts centre.

This year, the aim is to raise the grand total of £2,000 to be donated to LYC’s Time to Breathe programme, which helps young people supported by LYC to enjoy nature walks, visit farms, and tree- and flower-planting sessions.

The initiative is just the latest on offer from a charity which received a prestigious Queen’s Award in 2021 and which has also led projects at Bay Leadership Academy and Stanleys Community Centre, run weekly gym and mental health sessions across Lancashire, and worked with Ukrainian refugees in Preston.

If you would like to make a donation to Lancashire Youth Challlenge’s Coast2Coast Cycle challenge, please go to the LYC Coast2Coast Cycle Challenge - JustGiving page.