{"id":592391,"date":"2026-05-19T11:55:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T11:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/592391\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T11:55:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T11:55:09","slug":"transforming-lives-take-on-epic-bolton-to-wembley-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/592391\/","title":{"rendered":"Transforming Lives take on epic Bolton to Wembley challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n  The challenge was undertaken by Andy Farnworth, along with Robert Wysocki, Eddie Birchall and Jason Grinnell on the road, with Paul Mockford supporting them, over 26 hours.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Andy, founder of the Transforming Lives Group CIC, says that the challenge has so far raised more than \u00a33,000 for the organisation\u2019s health and wellbeing support project.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  He said: &#8220;This was a very tough challenge, riding through the night, and one of the hardest we have taken on to date.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  \u201cIt was an extremely challenging fundraising event, but as we were celebrating Mental Health Awareness Week, we wanted to do something that would push us to the limit, both mentally and physically.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  <img   width=\"100%\"\/>The trip helped to raise funds to support the work Transforming Lives does (Image: Transforming Lives Group CIC)\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;Massive well done to my team.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  \u201cRobert, Eddie, Paul and Jason all have their own personal stories and they were absolutely fantastic, pushing themselves well outside their comfort zones. I could not be prouder of them.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;This challenge was about more than the miles.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  <img   width=\"100%\"\/>The cyclists took part in a 210 mile trip (Image: Transforming Lives Group CIC)\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  \u201cIt was about showing the people we support that we will go the distance for them.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  \u201cOur project gives people something that cannot be prescribed, and that is community, connection and purpose.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  \u201cWe hope the people of Bolton will get behind us.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  <img   width=\"100%\"\/>The cyclists helped to raise vital funds (Image: Transforming Lives Group CIC)\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The Transforming Lives Group was set up to help <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theboltonnews.co.uk\/news\/25384332.transforming-lives-group-bolton-founder-plans-epic-relay\/?ref=ed_direct\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">people<\/a> across the borough break free from addiction and mental health struggles and to turn their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theboltonnews.co.uk\/news\/25935674.bolton-ex-rough-sleepers-new-life-thanks-transforming-lives-group\/?ref=ed_direct\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">lives<\/a> around.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theboltonnews.co.uk\/news\/26004373.bolton-cyclists-ride-210-miles-london-charity\/?ref=ed_direct\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">team<\/a> set off on Friday May 15 at 12pm and, with a few brief tea and coffee stops along the way, they arrived at Wembley at 3pm on May 16, coinciding with FA Cup final day.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Andy says that every pound goes directly towards providing individuals with a sense of belonging and that it\u00a0will be used for tackling loneliness.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  <img   width=\"100%\"\/>Cyclists set off from the Toughsheet Stadium to Wembley in London (Image: Transforming Lives Group CIC)\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The funds raised will also go to helping people improve their physical and mental health through community-led activities.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Transforming Lives founder Andy says the organisation promotes recovery, wellbeing and community support for some of Bolton\u2019s most vulnerable residents.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  He says their contribution will make a direct difference to local people accessing support through the project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The challenge was undertaken by Andy Farnworth, along with Robert Wysocki, Eddie Birchall and Jason Grinnell on the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":592392,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-592391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=592391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592391\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/592392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=592391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=592391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=592391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}