Together with family and friends, she cycled a lap of England in just 10 days and in doing so they have succeeded in raising in excess of £7,500 for St Luke's Hospice, Plymouth.  No mean feat considering that Becky isn’t actually a cyclist; preferring running as her sport.

Becky said, “We were supposed to be cycling from Plymouth to Barcelona in March 2020 on our ‘No Spain No Gain’ challenge to raise money for an incredible local cause which has done a great deal for us and our loved ones.  The plan was to cover the 850+ miles in around 9 days, and hopefully raise as much money as possible in the process!”

However, due to COVID-19 these plans were scuppered and the challenge was modified to fit in with current travel restrictions, and rescheduled to a start date of 14 August 2021.  They decided to do the Compass Points Challenge – cycling across England from the north to the east, then to the south, and finally to the west of the country.  They spent over ten hours each day on their bikes, covering approximately 100 miles distance daily.  Becky was joined in the challenge by her partner Dan, friends Tony, Jake and Jordey, and their support crew of Al and Chloe.

The group started their challenge at Marshall Meadows, the most northerly point in England, and have seen the best parts of the English countryside on their journey en-route to their final destination of Lands End, Cornwall.  Becky said, “The boys are a lot faster than I am, so I spent a good amount of the time cycling on my own.  It was pretty scary, as I’m not great with directions or cycling, but I really enjoyed it.  It’s made me feel a lot more confident about trying new things alone.”

On her return to College after the summer holidays, Becky told her students about her amazing adventure and her Year 10 students were justifiably inspired by her story commenting, “I think that it's great that an English teacher has received recognition for such a huge achievement.  Miss Smith is such a huge role model and I hope that it motivates more people to reach their full potential.  Cycling 980 miles in 10 days is something that should be paraded! Huge well-done Miss Smith!” Charlotte.

“Miss Smith has always told us about her bike rides and running races, but they have never been as crazy as this.  To cycle 980 miles in just 10 days is an incredible achievement, especially for someone who has had only two years of experience.  To do it for charity is even more special.” Thomas.

“This is an amazing example of what teachers are capable of.  She has always had a passion for challenging herself and Miss Smith has given up a lot of her time as well as balancing being a great English teacher for charity.” Gemma.

“For someone who couldn’t ride a bike before this I think that Miss Smith has shown how passionate she is to inspire all of us to do something for charity.  They biked across England in 10 days which consisted of going under tunnels and over hills, all in a total of 980 miles – she is an inspiration.” Arabella.