Peterborough eight-year-old’s cycle marathon to support young people’s mental health

Leo Roberts (8) has been cycling the city, completing his 20 miles in a week to raise money to help provide mental health help for young people.

Inspired by his uncle Alex’s charity bike rides, Leo wanted to follow in his footsteps, with mum Georgina Wilmer running with him.

When Leo heard about his uncle’s charity cycle to Zurich, Switzerland, from Birmingham, Leo immediately wanted to give it a go. Not quite ready for a cross-continent cycle, Leo settled on a 20-mile bike ride to help Young People’s Counselling Service (YPCS).

Proud mum Georgina has been amazed at his commitment. She said: “He’s really got into his cycling since lockdown. It’s a great way to get out of the house. On our first cycle we had our Alexa next to his mile counter, which stopped it working so his first two miles didn’t count. So we went and did the first two miles again.”

Setting their sights on £250 Georgina wanted Leo to be able to achieve his goal but hoped to raise enough money to pay for at least one child to complete their course of therapy. With costs depending on the courses of therapy from £400-£800, the mother-son duo have raised £385 so far.

Wanting to complete his target within a week, Leo has cycled huge stretches of Ferry Meadows, totalling between six and seven miles in a day. Starting last Saturday, the pair want to finish by the time Leo goes back to school, but are still determined to work around school days to get the mission done.

Recognising the importance of YPCS, Georgina explained to Leo what the charity does.

She said: “It’s important to do things to help people that don’t benefit him directly. It’s hard to explain to an eight-year-old about mental health. I said to him that if our heads get poorly like our bodies do, then young people need to talk to people about it, so we are helping to pay for people to do that.

“He wants to help young people feel happy. If we can even raise enough for one child to have paid sessions that’s amazing but we wish we could help more.”

Having seen a surge in referrals and a decrease in donations, YPCS is hoping Leo’s fundraising efforts will inspire others to follow his lead.

Vice chair YPCS, Michelle Lay, said: “Fundraising since covid-19 has really ceased to happen, we had to cancel events we had planned. We have been relying on grants and donations from local businesses, these are harder to gain due to so many charities being in a similar situation to ourselves. Referrals are coming in on a daily basis and are up 30 per cent on this time last year.

“If rates of referrals remain the same we may have up to 500 this year. It is a time we have never seen before.”

Having invited Leo to the centre in Yaxley, Michelle hopes Leo can see the difference he is making.

She said: “We were so touched to learn that Leo had chosen YPCS to fundraise for, we have shared his story on our social media to let our followers and local community know what it means to us. It’s a real feel-good moment that a young man is wanting to help support other young children. Covid has impacted all of our lives and for young people this is much harder to navigate.”

Referrals to YPCS can be made in a number of ways, including from schools, GPs, other mental health services, victim support, children’s social care; and parents can self-refer a child over the age of 13. Since the pandemic the service has been offering online and telephone support, though the charity is returning to face-to-face support at the end of the month.

To find out more about YPCS go to https://www.ypcs.uk/. To donate to Leo’s fundraiser go to: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/georgina-wilmer