By Saul Cooke-Black

FRIENDS, colleagues and family have come together to undertake a special challenge in memory of Stroud District Councillor Paul Carter, who died in November.

Team JOGLE, including Paul’s two sons Phil and Mark, will cycle over 1000 miles from John O’Groats to Land’s End and take on a swim in the Lake District, from Friday, May 15 to Monday, May 25, cycling around 100 miles per day.

They are hoping to raise at least £5,000 for the Longfield hospice in Minchinhampton and the Sue Ryder Leckhampton Court hospice, which both helped look after Mr Carter after he was diagnosed with cancer in March 2014.

Gareth Whatmore, the partner of Paul’s niece, Carla Cheetham, said: “The idea came about after Phil, Paul’s son, read a book about somebody who went from John O’Groats to Land’s End without any money.

“After Paul passed away we thought it would be a good thing to do as a thank you to the people who had looked after him.

“We’re an unlikely bunch to be doing a ride like this. Some of us have never cycled before, some of us are overweight and some of us can hardly swim.

“It’s taken a lot of preparation from where we started off, but we’re all ready and raring to go.”

The team of five doing the ride will be passing through Stroud on Friday, May 22, where they will stop at the Whitminster Inn for a drinks reception between 5pm and 7pm.

They will then set off from Nailsworth market on Saturday, May 23, on the next leg of their journey to Taunton, and will be happy for people to come out and give their support as they pass through the district.

Nearly £3,000 has already been raised in memory of Mr Carter, who also used to do a lot of voluntary work in the community, including sponsorship and servicing of the team’s bikes by Independent Bikeworks in Cirencester.

The team also received a brilliant response from the public at the Randwick Wap, where the public donated generously to a bucket collection.