Charity bike ride for Meningitis Trust...
SADDLERS’ Player commentator, Jonathan Sidaway, will be looking to raise £1,000 for charity by cycling to all five West Midlands football clubs.Football-fanatic Sidaway will begin his journey here at the Banks’s Stadium before making a gruelling 40-mile round trip to Aston Villa, Birmingham City, West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers in aid of the Meningitis Trust, next month.
The 23 year-old has taken it upon himself to undergo the fund-raising event after hearing the tragic story of Saddlers defender, Dean Holden and his wife Danielle losing their 17-month old daughter, Cici to meningococcal sepsis, a rare bacterial blood infection, on holiday last May.
“I was shocked by the devastating story Dean and his family have gone through,” he said. “I’m not a parent, but I have a 2 year-old brother and I couldn’t imagine anything like this happening, especially so young.
“I remember interviewing Dean without knowing and I thought he was a great guy, so after I found out, I knew straight away I wanted to do something to raise money.
“I wanted to do something challenging and I love football, so I thought it would be a fun idea to cycle all the West Midlands clubs, though I bet it won’t be as fun when I get around doing it!”
Dudley-born Sidaway, who hasn’t rode a bike for over seven years, is looking to help raise the awareness of meningitis which has affected more than 500,000 people living in the UK through the Meningitis Trust, which aims to help provide and assist with support for those who suffer from the disease, as well as their families.
You can sponsor Jon when he pursues the self-labelled Tour de Banks’s event in April this year, by clicking here...
To find out more about the Meningitis Trust, you can visit their website: www.meningitis-trust.org.