Lawyer pedals to help drug addicts

Sara Chorkley, a criminal lawyer for JP Mewies', Keighley Road, is to cycle the 560 kilometre length of Vietnam in six days with 70 other people for the charity Addaction. The group will average 95km a day, mostly off-road.

They will spend the nights in the most basic accommodation and have to cycle through mountain terrain and cities in humid conditions.

Having paid her registration fee, Sara needs to raise another £2,300 in sponsor money to make her trip a success.

She needs companies and individuals to come forward and support the cause.

The Life Cycle Challenge Vietnam hopes to raise more than £50,000 for Addaction to meet the growing demand for drug and alcohol support services.

Addaction, set up over 30 years ago, has branches nationwide and works with drug users, their families and friends to provide rehabilitation, education and diversion initiatives.

Research by Addaction shows that over half of all 14 to 15-year-olds have been offered or have tried illegal drugs.

Sara, 33, said: "I see the effects of drugs all the time and when you see people who want to get out of drugs but can't, because there is never the funding, it is incredibly worthwhile to be able to do something to help."

Her love of cycling started two years ago when she was challenged to cycle 100 miles in one day - which she did without any training.

In preparation for the Vietnam trip, Sara will take part in two one-day cycle events: one from Morecambe to Scarborough in June, and the other from Manchester to Blackpool, in July.

Over the last bank holiday weekend she cycled from Skipton to Lincoln, just to make sure she could still manage the long distance.

The cycle challenge is due to take place in October so Sara only has a few months left to get her sponsorship money together.

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