Jake’s Paris adventure to celebrate St Luke's founder.
Jake Ostrovskis has a very special reason for wanting to pedal his way from St Luke’s to Paris, because his grandfather was Professor Eric Wilkes, a pioneer of the national hospice movement and the man responsible for the opening of St Luke’s, the first hospice outside London, in 1971. The May event will also provide an early start to the August 90th birthday celebrations of Jake’s grandmother, Eric’s widow Jess.
Jake, who comes from Baslow in Derbyshire, is being joined on his 450 mile biking challenge by dad John, plus friends and fellow students Tom Spears and Jack Woods.
“I wanted to do something to celebrate my gran’s 90th birthday and I wanted it to be something big for both her and the hospice, so a ride to Paris from Sheffield seemed like a very good idea,” said Jake, who aims to raise more than £2,000.
“We’re all relatively fit and we have been doing some practice sessions already so by the time we get started we aim to be cycling something like 110 to 140 miles per day, so we should be able to finish in three days.
“It’s going to be quite helpful having dad on board too because he’s a qualified physiotherapist and his skills could come in very useful after a hard day of pedalling.
“I have very fond memories of the hospice and visiting with my grandfather during my childhood and the family has maintained those links since his death.
“It’s going to be an adventure that hopefully will raise a lot of money for St Luke’s at the same time.”
To support Jake and the team, visit their JustGiving page: www.justgiving.com/supportstlukes/