Civil Nuclear Police Authority
A/Insp Matt Fowler and Sgt Tim Cook, both based at Sellafield, and Sgt Tom Davies, based at Hartlepool, will be completing the demanding ride on Saturday 7 January 2017 and are training hard already.
They want to raise as much money as possible for Alex Goodwin, a nine-year-old boy with Ewing Sarcoma, a very rare type of bone cancer which affects fewer than 30 children a year. Alex has been struggling with constant leg pain since Christmas 2015 and has used crutches since April 2016. He was diagnosed with cancer in June and is now undergoing chemotherapy and relies on a wheelchair a lot of the time to get around.
Alexs dad, Jeff Goodwin, is an ex-sergeant at CNC and is now a serving police officer at Warwickshire Police. In order to maximise Alexanders chances of survival against this disease and give him the best possible treatment, Jeff began fundraising to raise the 120,000 they estimate they will need to get the expertise of the leading medical professionals in this field here in the UK and abroad, taking advantage of the latest treatments of this type of cancer where appropriate, including Proton Beam Therapy and other treatments that may not be available to Alex on the NHS.
A number of fundraising events have taken place across the country, with people running the New York Marathon to support him, an emergency services open day held at the Warwickshire Police HQ on Sunday (6/11), and a charity single being released next month to raise funds, which features hundreds of police officers from 30 different forces, including the CNC, as well as fire and ambulance officers.
The single, called Horizon on my Mind and written by Warwickshire Police Inspector Dave Jones, will be released on 5 December and will be available through Alexs Just Giving page, iTunes and Amazon. Wristbands will also be on sale.
The three CNC officers, who know Jeff from his time at CNC, decided to do their bit to raise money for Alex and decided a bike ride from Workington to Tynemouth in the bitter January weather was the way to do it.
Sgt Tom Davies said: I met Alex at the event at Warwickshire Police HQ on Sunday. He is so brave and upbeat considering his circumstances. Im nervous about the challenge as its far further than I have ever cycled before and well be doing it in Januarys freezing climate, however I know its nothing to what Alex is heroically going through every day in his fight to get better.
Every penny will help towards him receiving the treatment he needs and I hope we get as much support as possible for Alex.
Visit Toms Just Giving page to find out more
Alex is still receiving gruelling treatment for his cancer, including radiotherapy and loves receiving messages on his Facebook and Twitter feeds so if you have either of these personal accounts, please pay him a visit to say hello.