Five-year-old Hollie to cycle 70km for bereaved Forces children
Five-year-old Hollie Matthews is planning to cycle 70km in just one month to raise funds for Scotty’s Little Soldiers, a national charity that supports children and young people following the death of a parent who served in the British Armed Forces.
Hollie, who only learned to ride a bike without stabilisers just one year ago, is raising funds for Scotty’s, a charity close to the hearts of the Matthews family. Hollie began her cycling challenge last week (22nd February) and is hoping to complete 70km by the 22nd of March, having raised over £700 so far.
Hollie Matthews
Having noticed Hollie was becoming a little fed up during lockdown, her mum, Christine, decided a fun challenge would be great for Hollie’s physical and mental health. Signing up to ‘The Great British Children’s Challenge’, Hollie and her mum initially chose the distance of 35km and decided to do the challenge in conjunction with raising funds for Scotty’s Little Soldiers. After completing her initial target of 35km in under a week, Hollie set herself the new challenge of reaching 70km.
With Hollie’s parents serving in the RAF for a combined total of 35 years, the Matthews family hold Scotty’s close to their hearts and strive to raise funds to help ensure their vital work is continued, and support is provided to those children and young people who need it most.
Hollie commented on her cycling challenge, saying: “We’ve raised lots of money so far for Scotty’s, which makes me really happy.”
Scotty’s Little Soldiers, which was set up in 2010 by war widow Nikki Scott, offers integral support to children and young people who have experienced the death of a parent who served in the Armed Forces.
Nikki saw the devastating impact the death of her husband, Corporal Lee Scott, in 2009 had on their two young children and wanted to help others in the same situation.
The charity does lots of things to support its members, including providing access to the very best emotional health and wellbeing care, offering outstanding development opportunities through a range of activity and educational grants, and Scotty’s helps put smiles back on those brave faces by organising events, providing respite breaks, posting them birthday and Christmas presents and remembering the anniversary of their parent’s death.
Over the last year, the charity has had to adapt to the current climate and has been using modern technology to arrange exciting virtual events and activities to engage with its members, ensuring them that in uncertain times such as these they are not alone. They’ve also been providing a high volume of wellbeing support to families who are suffering from enhanced anxiety and other problems due to the current health crisis.
Nikki said: “We’re so proud of Hollie and the incredible challenge she has undertaken for Scotty’s. It’s fundraisers like Hollie that allow us to continue providing much-needed support to children and young people who have been through so much in their young lives having experienced the death of a parent who served in the Armed Forces. We cannot express our thanks to Hollie and her family enough for helping us continue this support. At just five-years-old Hollie’s an absolute inspiration, and we’re wishing her lots of luck for the rest of her cycling challenge.”
