Siblings take on 186-mile Whitby to Sheffield cycle ride in mum's memory

Joe and Ben Richards and sister Emily Letch hope to complete the journey in three days

Three siblings have begun a 186-mile (300km) cycle ride to raise funds for a charity which cared for their mother.

Ben Richards, 45, Joe Richards, 43, and Emily Letch, 41, are cycling from Whitby to Sheffield in aid of the Sue Ryder Wheatfields Hospice in Leeds.

The trio's mother Sally Richards received care at the hospice before she died in December 2022.

Billed as the Tour de Sally, the siblings intend to visit all 14 houses their mum lived in across Yorkshire.

The ride will include stops in York, Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield and on Tuesday they hope to stop at the hospice where their mother was cared for.

The family said they just wanted to "repay" the kindness shown to their mum before her death

Ben Richards said their mother's lung cancer had been diagnosed three months before her death.

"The level of care was beyond anything we could have ever expected and, as a family, we are incredibly grateful for their support in those last days and weeks," he said.

"In tribute to her, we wanted to raise money and awareness for Sue Ryder by doing something with the right level of challenge and Yorkshire grit.

"I am a keen cyclist and I thought it would be a great idea to create 'Tour de Sally'."

The trio plan to visit every home their late mother lived in across Yorkshire

His brother Joe said the ride was not his idea.

"My big brother and little sister are both avid cyclists so they've managed to rope me into doing this," he said.

"Obviously it is in a really good cause, so I am more than happy to do it," he said.

They hope to complete the journey in three days, with the first 86-mile (140km) leg from Whitby to Leeds via York on Monday.

The trio had originally had set a fundraising target of £2,000, but have already reached £2,650.