A 500-MILE?cycling journey being undertaken by a mother and her autistic daughter reached Roadford Lake last Friday (July 24).

Chrissy and Esme Mathew, from Nuneaton, have recently embarked on the journey between Land’s End and Bolton to raise funds for therapy for Esme; a happy little three year old who loves to be outside, gives the best bear hugs and has the most wonderful giggle in the world.

Chrissy and Esme, who spent the night camping at Roadford Lake, are raising funds to start ABA Therapy with Esme in September; an early intervention therapy for children with autism.

ABA Therapy is done through play activities and will give Esme the age appropriate skills she needs. Emphasis is placed on teaching communication and language skills but all areas are taught.

Chrissy said: ‘Esme has very few words. She plays differently to other children and she doesn’t know how to engage with others. She gets extremely frightened by noises like hand dryers and is sensitive to touch.

‘We’ve seen our little girl withdraw into her own world over the last 18 months and fall further behind. We’re doing everything we can to support her and make the world around her somewhere she can learn to explore with confidence.

‘ABA therapy is only available privately and costs far more than we could ever dream of pulling together ourselves. So, with that in mind, I decided to set myself the herculean task of cycling 500 miles of trails and off road tracks between Land’s End and Bolton with Esme!

‘Given that I’m just a typical mum trying to do what I can and that Esme will still need all the things a three-year-old needs, each day we’ll be taking our time and doing the journey over four weeks, setting up camp each day.’

Phil Timings, outdoor and active manager at Roadford Lake said: ‘It’s brilliant to see so much dedication and hard work put into raising money for such a worthy cause. As a charity ourself, South West Lakes Trust appreciates the importance of fundraising and increasing public profile and this bike ride has done both.

‘We are pleased to be able to support them on their journey and wish them luck in completing the challenge of raising £20,000.’

Chrissy and Esme will be finishing their journey in Bolton, where both of them were born, on August 21.

For more information or if you would like to donate visit http://gogetfunding.com/esmes-autism-journey/

You can also track their progress on Facebook, Twitter and on Instagram and they will continue to post updates of progress once therapy starts in September.