Cycling Sidmouth siblings raise £28,000 for charities

A CANCER sufferer whose bravery motivated teenage brothers to raise £28,000 by cycling the length of the UK has hailed the duo as “outstanding”.

John Massen praised siblings Sam and Ollie Turner, 15 and 14, after they pedalled their way to the massive sum to boost a trio of charities.

The boys were gifted a bike by their terminally ill uncle, Malcolm, before he died and took on the 900 mile ride from John O’ Groats to Land’s End he’d always dreamed of completing in August. Sidmouth College students Sam and Ollie also got on their bikes as a show of support for close family friend John, 43, who was diagnosed with cancer in August 2011.

Their amazing Brothers on Bikes total will be shared between Sidmouth Hospiscare, Hospiscare Devon, and Cancer Research UK.

IT manager John, of Axminster, who is now recovering from the illness after finishing chemotherapy, played his part by supporting the duo and their team from home and was at the Land’s End finishing line to greet them after their gruelling 11-day challenge.

“They are quite outstanding,” he said.

“To have driven the whole thing themselves is incredible.

“You don’t find many 14 or 15-year-olds doing anything like this. Teenagers get a bad press - but this shows they are not all bad.

“Doing my bit gave me a boost.”

The brothers recently revealed their fundraising total in front of friends and family and thanked all those who helped them achieve it.

“The ride was just a small part of our journey,” said Sam.

“Our inspiration came from two incredible people.”

Ollie told supporters: “Uncle Malcolm had a dream, we had a dream, together you made that dream a reality.”